Just Something I Should Do
by bigbew
Summary: Cameron struggles to understand her developing emotions despite John's help. The Connors hunt Kaliba to try and prevent Judgement Day.
1. Chapter 1

**Ok, for this to make sense, you have to just ignore everything past Today is the Day Part 2. They never meet Weaver and Kaliba doesn't attack them.**

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_Press Y to decrypt file...Y_

_Press Y to decrypt file...Y_

_Press Y to decrypt file...Y_

_Error scanning file, press R to retry...R_

John Connor let out an audible groan. How long had he been at this? Five, maybe six hours? Just the latest in a long line of hard drives stolen from a long line of companies that Sarah thought were linked to Skynet.

_3 dots my ass._

Things had been a little quiet recently. Riley was dead and Jesse had been dealt with. Sarah had become somewhat obsessed with finding Skynet, and Derek, well Derek hadn't been around much lately. This left John and Cameron alone together...a lot. He had noticed a lot of differences with her lately. He even managed to coax the story of who Allison was out of her. That night had shocked him to his core. It wasn't so much the story that shocked him, but it was the way she had broken down crying and held on to him as if for dear life while relating the story. She had spent that night on his bed in standby. Apparently her neural network needed some time to process the sheer amount of data produced by her sudden outpouring of emotion. He didn't get much sleep that night. He couldn't bear to leave her alone. He set up his computer chair near his bed, propped his feet up and watched over her until she 'woke up' a few hours later. So much had passed through his head in those hours. This wasn't a trick, she really is different.

_File decryption complete. Please choose next file..._

_Screw that._

John closed his laptop and rested his elbows on his desk and laid his head in his hands. After rubbing his eyes for a few moments, he started to contemplate getting up and getting some coffee when a warm slender hand found its way to the back of his neck.

Once upon a time he would have yelped and sprang away as if the touch had burned. But not now. Now he took it for what it was.

_It's just what moms do..._

_Wait...Mom's off on another Skynet hunt with Derek...that means..._

"Cameron, what are you doing?"

_What a stupid question to ask. Did you really need an answer? Here it comes in 3, 2, 1..._

"You appear tired and stressed. I am checking your vitals for signs of illness and fatigue"

_Of course she is._

For the second time in a minute John let out a groan of exhaustion and frustration. After giving his eyes one last rub he reached up behind his head and gently, almost tenderly, removed her hand from his neck. For reasons he didn't fully understand he brought her hand round in front of his eyes.

"Where did those come from?"

"Where did what come from?"

"Those nails"

"What nails?"

"Cameron..." John practically growled at her. Pretending not to know the answer to his questions was one of the more annoying personality traits she had recently picked up. His frustration was growing by the second. She however seemed not to catch the hint.

"Yes John?" she said in a sweet, innocent voice.

A third groan escaped his throat

"Where and when did you get these nails? Not that I know much about nail care, but these look as if they are professionally done."

"You've seen me paint my nails before. How is this any different?"

"Riiiight. You just thought this was just something you should do?" he held her hand up in the air slightly for emphasis.

"Yes"

A slightly uncomfortable silence fell between them. John was frantically trying to think of something to break the tension when she spoke up. _Huh, must have been uncomfortable for her too._

"They are your Christmas present to me"

John almost fell off his chair as he swivelled around so fast to look at her.

"Wha...My...My what?

She tilted her head to the side in that annoyingly cute way of hers, looked down at him with those adorable big brown puppy dog eyes and said in a slow and clear voice, as if speaking to a small child:

"They. Are. Your. Christmas. Present. To. Me"

It took a moment for John to register what she had said. Then he remembered he had gotten her a gift voucher for a local boutique. He also remembered double checking that they didn't sell combat boots. He had no idea they offered beauty treatments. It was something of an afterthought to get her anything at all really...

"_So what are you getting the Tin Miss?_

"_Hmm, what?"_

"_What are you getting Cameron for Christmas?"_

"_Erm, nothing, why?"_

"_No reason. It's just nice to know that I raised a son who doesn't give a crap about the people who protect him every day"_

"_What? It's not like she'll even know what Christmas is all about"_

"_Well neither do you, but I'm still getting you something"_

"_Ok, ok, I'll pick something up, jeez!!"_

She had said it with a smirk on her face, but John knew there was a deeper meaning behind her words. He felt a sudden stab of guilt for not treating his mother better than she deserves. After all, she did give up everything for him.

_When she gets back, you are so doing something nice for her._

A gentle squeeze of his hand and a subtle caress of her thumb across his knuckles brought him out of his trance he didn't realise he was in. He looked up to see Cameron still staring at him awaiting a response to her statement.

After awkwardly clearing his throat, John steeled himself and looked down at her hand, still curiously intertwined with his own.

"Erm, they're really nice Cam. When did you find the time to get them done?"

John thought he saw a look of hurt flash across her face before she quickly started extricating her hand from his. John's fingertips still clung on after it was gone. He looked at his now empty hand and back up to her beautiful face. It had returned to its blank 'scary robot' expression. She was upset and he knew it.

_What have you done now jackass???_

"Cameron, I..."

"I got them while you were out with Riley one day"

A cold shiver ran down his spine as he remembered the girl from the future. She didn't deserve what happened to her. He had long known that Cameron didn't like the girl. He always put it down to her being a security risk and a threat to her mission. _Boy was she right. _But now, after Cameron's recent emotional developments, he realised there was probably a little more to it than that.

"Cameron...Wait, that was almost 2 months ago"

She averted her gaze to the floor, as if she found the pattern of the carpet suddenly fascinating.

"Yes it was, thank you for noticing"

With that she turned and headed for the door without looking back. He felt like a total ass and cast his eyes down to the floor where she had been looking moments ago. On their way back up, his eyes couldn't help but linger on inappropriate places. _Damn hormones. _He watched her pert backside as she left the room in the cute purple pyjama bottoms she was wearing.

_Hold on, when did she start wearing pyjamas? She really has changed._

"Cameron, wait"

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**To be continued......maybe!!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I decided to continue this due to the nice feedback I've received. I've also decided to extend it beyond just these two chapters. I wonder what mommy and uncle Derek's reaction to all this would be? :)**

**Thanks to all those who reviewed:**

**acer-sigma, TK-MR, clearfanfic, Renderer and my friend kaotic2 (hurry it up with your fic dude!!)**

**But special thanks go to ElusiveSanity. I'm a huge fan of Irony and Fate. Reading your lovely review made my day and spurred me on to get this chapter finished tonight.**

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"Cameron, wait"

When she didn't acknowledge his call and continued her course to the door, John leapt from his perch to try and stop her.

"Cameron, please stop"

He tried to grab her hand. As soon as it made contact with hers, she yanked it away as if scalded. Unfortunately she yanked it right in to the door frame. John heard a telltale cracking noise and knew what had just happened. He closed his eyes and winced a little. When he opened his eyes he saw Cameron looking at her hand, her face was characteristically blank, but her eyes were glistening and he could tell she was struggling to maintain control. After a few moments of staring at her hand, she slowly lowered it to her side and continued her path out the door. John couldn't summon any words and simply watched her leave with his mouth hanging open. The next thing he heard was her bedroom door quietly closing behind her.

_Well I was expecting at least a dramatic door slam._

John gathered his thoughts, closed his mouth and went to follow her. When he got to her door he was just planning on walking in, after all he never usually has to knock. As he reached for the handle he reconsidered. _Wait, she never had any emotional outbursts before, I'd better knock. _As he held up his hand to knock he realised he didn't have the slightest clue what he was gonna do or say. _What do you do to comfort an emotionally fragile, currently upset Terminator?_

Realising his hand had been hovering near her door for a touch too long, he turned around and headed for the kitchen to get that coffee he should have gotten hours ago.

He was on autopilot for the majority of the trip down the stairs and into the kitchen, he only came around when the cold of the laminate flooring bit in to his bare feet. _Ok John, get a grip...coffee._

He filled the kettle, placed it back on its base, clicked the power on and waited for it to boil. While he did he grabbed a cup out of the cupboard and shovelled in coffee and plenty of sugar. _What the hell, I know it's bad for me but it's not exactly going to be available in abundance in the future._ When he went to the cupboard to put the ingredients back, a shiny silver packet at the back of the shelf caught his eye. _Huh, why not, couldn't hurt._ He retrieved the packet along with another cup from the shelf and poured the contents of the packet into the new cup. He filled both with the now boiled water and gave them both a quick stir.

He took both cups and headed upstairs.

"Dammit"

He arrived at Cameron's door having spilled a sizeable amount of the liquids from both cups. _Mom's gonna be pissed. I hope you appreciate this Cameron. _He attempted to knock on her door whilst trying to juggle 2 cups semi full of boiling hot liquids. In the end he gave up and put one on the floor. Softly wrapping his knuckles on the door, he called out to her:

"Cameron..."

Nothing

"Cameron, it's John" _of course it is, you're the only ones in the house._

Nothing

"May I come in please?"

After what felt like minutes went by until she answered:

"Yes"

It was soft, almost a whisper, but he heard it clear as day.

He turned the handle and the door clicked open. Pushing it open slightly he picked up the other cup and carefully backed his way in to the room. He closed the door with his backside once he was in the room and strode over to the nightstand to put the cups down. He wasn't expecting what he saw when he turned around to face her. She was sitting on her bed with her back against the wall with her knees pulled up to her chest, idly rubbing her broken nail while staring out of the window with a blank expression on her face. Her eyes were red and puffy and her cheeks were still a little damp.

_Upset cyborg alert, stand clear, future leader of mankind John Connor coming through. Yeah right, like you would even know how to comfort a human girl, let alone an advanced AI from the future who has just recently developed a whole range of new emotions._

He moved to the bed and carefully clambered next to her, mimicking her posture. He sat close, but not close enough to be touching. If she noticed his presence she didn't indicate it and continued to stare out the window at seemingly nothing.

"Hey" his voice was tender and caring.

Still nothing. John let out a sigh, reached over and gently caressed her knee.

"Hey. You ok over there?"

She turned her head to face him and her eyes were greeted with a bright beaming smile. Something stirred inside her chip at the sight of it and she felt a smile inexplicably forming on her own face. A light chuckle escaped John's lips.

"Yes John I'm ok...thank you"

She seemed to study his face for a moment before scanning around the room with her eyes.

"What's in the cups?"

"Oh"

John sprang up from his position to retrieve the almost forgotten about cups. He plucked them from the nightstand and very carefully returned to his previous position at her side. Sitting just a little closer than before.

"Well, one of them is coffee for me"

He hesitated before continuing.

"And I know you don't technically need to eat or drink anything, but I just thought that seeing as how you kinda have a sweet tooth and all that maybe you'd like to try a hot chocolate?"

John was blushing furiously at this point as she continued to examine his face. She looked thoughtfully at the cup, then again at his face, before reaching out and accepting it. Their hands brushing as she did.

"Thank you John"

"Don't mention it"

She tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"It means, no problem"

"Yes, I know what it means"

"Then why are you tilting your head like that?

Nothing. If anything she tilted it even further.

"When you tilt your head like that, it usually means you're confused or intrigued about something"

"Oh, thank you for explaining"

She took a sip from the beverage John had given her, looked at the dark liquid remaining in the cup, and once again tilted her head.

"Well?

"Well what John?"

There was that annoying trait again. He thought about calling her out about it when her radiant smile threw him off. He chuckled before continuing:

"Well...why were you confused when I handed you the drink?"

"Like you said, I do not need to eat or drink, and yet you thought enough about me to make and offer me one anyway. Why?"

He looked away and smirked.

"It just seemed like something I should do"

On hearing this they both looked away and smiled.

A few minutes of comfortable silence passed while they sipped their drinks. John looked over to her and noticed the broken nail on her right hand. He reached out and gently took her hand in his own once again.

"Hey, I, er, I'm really sorry about your nails Cam. They really are nice"

"Thank you"

"Tell you what, why don't you get them redone? We've got plenty of time to kill before mom and Derek get home. Why don't you go tomorrow? My treat"

She didn't need to scan him through their still joined hands to know he was embarrassed. His bright red cheeks could have told anyone that. She decided that his offer was sincere, but still decided to tease him some more.

"Would you like to accompany me John? You really could use a facial treatment for your clogged pores and oily skin"

John simply stared at her like she had suddenly grown two heads and snatched his hand away abruptly.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY, NO WAY, NOT EVER IN ANY UNIVERSE AM I GOING TO BE SEEN DEAD IN A BOUTIQUE WITH..."

The bright amused smile on her face once again threw him off his stride. He suddenly broke out laughing while she continued to smile at him. It was the smile she flashed him on the first day they met, back in that New Mexico school classroom. _Man that's beautiful. _When his laughing had mostly subsided he gently poked her in her 'ribcage'.

"You"

Poke

"Are getting far too good at that"

Once again a comfortable silence fell between them as they both continued smiling to themselves.

"Well, I'd better turn in for the night. Apparently I need my beauty sleep"

He was rewarded with another of her smiles. He took her now empty cup from her and stood up from the bed. He turned around to face her.

"Good night Cameron"

"Good night John"

As he moved to leave he felt her hand grab his, holding him in place. He turned to her again.

"John, would you..."

She seemed to be trying to summon up the courage to ask for something, but the words wouldn't come. Now it was his turn to gently caress her knuckles to bring her out of her daze.

"...would you stay with me tonight? I need to enter standby to analyse these new emotions. I don't want to be too far away from you"

"In case of a triple eight attack?"

John could have sworn she hesitated for a split second before answering.

"Yes, in case of attack"

"Of course I will Cameron. But I'm still not going to that boutique with you"

A small smile flashed across her lips as John turned around to place the cups on the nightstand. As he did, she lay down on her side and curled up into a ball. _Just like any normal girl _John thought. As he moved toward the light switch near the door, a question popped in to his head.

"Cameron?"

"Yes John?

"What are these new emotions you need to analyse?"

...

"Happiness"

Needless to say, John didn't get to sleep for a while that night. When he did, his head was filled with thoughts of a happy, smiling Cameron. That night, John didn't have any nightmares about the end of the world, or gleaming metal monsters for the first time in a very long time.

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**Well, please let me know what you all think. I felt the early parts of the chapter were a little dragged out initially. But after re-reading I decided it sorta fit.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Ok guys, thanks again to all reviewers:**

**kaotic2, ljim, acer-sigma, CloudyShadows, TK-MR, olischulu, clearfanfic and Renderer.**

**I have ideas for the next 2, possibly 3 chapters.**

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_Analysing, please wait..........97% complete_

If Cameron had been human she would have let out a sigh of boredom. Her CPU had been displaying similar messages to her for the last six hours. Six hours too long in her opinion.

_Analysing, please wait..........98% complete_

The worst part of it was that she was unable to view the results of her analysis until the process completed.

_Analysing, please wait..........99% complete_

The longer this took, the longer she was separated from John.

_Analysing, please wait..........100% complete, standby_

_Results of emotional analysis are as follows:_

Cameron's eyes twitched beneath her eye lids before snapping open.

_Standby sequence complete. Initiate scan of surroundings._

She sat up and scanned the room with her eyes. She was still on her bed in her room. She checked her internal chronometer which read 7:13am. What intrigued her most was what lay flat on its back on the fluffy rug in the middle of the room. She tilted her head to the side as she examined him.

His hair was a mess, his mouth was open and a few light snores escaped. His legs and arms were spread in such a carefree fashion, she'd never seen him look so peaceful.

_He said he would stay the night with me and he did. I didn't expect him to. He has done something nice for me, so I should do something nice for him._

A small smile formed on her perfect face as she quietly climbed off her bed and carefully stepped over the sleeping form of John Connor. She thought about getting dressed before deciding that it would create sufficient noise to wake the future leader of mankind. She quietly opened the door and slipped out of the room, closing the door behind her softly. She padded down the hallway in a white tank top, purple pyjama bottoms that were too cute for words and bare feet. She descended the stairs heading toward the kitchen. When she arrived she considered for a moment what to make John for his breakfast.

_Cereal would be the healthiest choice._

As she moved her arm toward the cupboard door to retrieve the cereal box, a thought crossed her mind.

_No, I want to do something nice for John. He will receive enough nutrition throughout the rest of the day. A cooked meal will be the better choice._

She briefly considered making pancakes until she remembered sampling some of Sarah's during her first ever staring contest with Derek. They were not nice, even to her and her limited sense of taste.

She instead decided on a breakfast of bacon sandwiches. She pulled the frying pan out of the cupboard, being very careful not to make too much noise. She had watched enough of the cookery channel late at night to know that frying bacon was a simple matter. After placing some bacon in the pan and hearing it sizzle, she decided to return the favour of a hot beverage. After fishing a cup out of the cupboard, she did something which surprised even herself and retrieved another cup along with a packet of hot chocolate mix. She poured the ingredients in to both cups and switched the kettle on to boil. She flipped the bacon in the pan before grabbing a glass from the shelf. She opened the fridge and proceeded to fill the glass with orange juice. She picked out four slices of bread from the packet and spread a liberal amount of butter on them, ignoring the warnings her CPU was providing her of high fat and salt content. The kettle boiled before the bacon was ready. She poured the hot liquid in to the identical cups and stirred both. When the bacon was ready she picked the slices from the pan with her bare fingers and placed them in the bread. She once again surprised herself as she sucked the leftover juices from her fingertips. She placed everything she had made on a tray and headed back upstairs with a proud beaming smile on her face.

_I hope John likes this. When he is happy, I experience pleasant sensations similar to those I experienced last night when he was laughing with me, and when he touched my knee and held my hand._

The reasons she felt these things around John and only John still eluded her understanding and greatly confused her. She resolved to talk with John about them some time, he is the only one who will understand.

When she reached her bedroom door, she entered with more grace and balance than John was able to muster the day before. She entered so quietly that she STILL hadn't woke him up. As she took in his sleeping form a wicked idea came to her head. She accessed her database and picked out a random male resistance fighter's voice, modulated her own voice to match, then shouted at the top of her 'lungs':

"METAAAAALLLLL"

Cameron had never seen any human move as fast as John Connor did at that moment. He leapt up from his sprawled position on the floor before scrambling to the window. He crouched down with his back to the wall before scanning his surroundings for imminent danger. A soft giggle from across the room interrupted his self induced panic.

"It's good to see your reflexes and responses are what they should be"

She was smiling as she said it...until the look on his face wiped it clean off. He was on the verge of erupting at her.

"WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU DO THAT? THAT WASN'T FUNNY. I THOUGHT THAT...I THOUGHT... I thought...It doesn't matter what I thought"

She looked down at the tray in her hands crestfallen.

"I, I'm sorry John. I thought it would be funny. I thought it would make you laugh"

She looked up to his eyes

"I thought it would make you smile"

She looked down again before continuing in a tiny voice.

"I like it when you smile. It makes me smile"

He took one look at her distraught face before feeling like a complete asshole for overreacting. He took a deep breath to calm down before picking himself up and walking over to her.

She felt a warm hand on her chin tilting her head up to look in his eyes.

_He is angry with me. I've upset him. He won't want to speak to me anymore. He will be unhappy, I will be unhappy. I do not want to go back to the way it was after I went bad._

He felt a sudden stab of guilt as a tear escaped her left eye and rolled down her cheek. He brought the hand that was on her chin up to her cheek and used his thumb to wipe away the tear.

_Why is he still being nice to me? He is angry with me. Why isn't he sending me away again?_

"Cameron, I'm sorry. I overreacted. You caught me off guard and I got angry. I'm so sorry"

Wow, she wasn't expecting that.

"I, I'm sorry too"

John looked down and noticed the tray for the first time.

"What's all this?

"You stayed with me last night. I decided to do something nice for you too"

"Wow. Bacon, huh? Are we out of pancake mix?

Words couldn't express the delight John felt when he was rewarded with a bright smile.

"No there is plenty, I just thought you would like something tasty for a change"

Her blank face made it all the funnier for John who couldn't hold it in any more. He burst out laughing, almost collapsing.

"Did...did you just....insult my mom's cooking?"

She waited for the laughing to subside before answering.

"Are you mad?"

"What, no. Not at all, I think it's funny. Well let's see if your cooking is any nicer than mom's"

He took the tray from her and moved over to her bed. He took up the same position they were in last night and settled the tray on his lap. He patted the space next to him as an invitation for her to sit next to him.

If Cameron had never seen a human move so fast moments earlier, John had never seen a cyborg move as fast either. She was snuggled in next to him before his hand had even made it back to the sandwiches on his plate. A broad grin greeted her as she looked at him.

"Erm, Cameron, why are there two cups?"

She took the cup with the hot chocolate from his tray before speaking.

"This one is mine. The other is your coffee"

He looked at her funny for a moment before asking.

"So you like hot chocolate then?"

She took a moment to consider his words.

"Yes, I do"

John merely watched as she sipped her hot chocolate. He shook his head and picked up his first sandwich. It tasted heavenly.

_How can she make bacon taste so good when somehow other people fail?_

They sat in companionable silence while John ate his rapidly cooling breakfast. She sat quietly while sipping her hot chocolate, simply watching him eat and seemingly savour every bite.

_He is happy. Making him breakfast makes him happy. It must be true what those magazines say, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach._

She filed the information away for later use.

By the time she had finished her drink, John had polished off his sandwiches, downed the orange and was quickly finishing his coffee. Again it was perfect, exactly how he liked it.

"So, what are your plans for today? You still gonna get those nails done?"

"Yes I am. But I would ask that you reconsider my request for you to accompany me"

Her blank expression returned as he turned to face her, making her completely unreadable.

"Uh, listen, Cam, I've already said I don't really wanna be seen in any place like that. It's ah...it's kinda a place for girls to go on their own or as part of a day out with their boyfriends"

_Boyfriend – Definition:_

_A favoured male companion or sweetheart._

She examined his face for any kind of deception but found none. He spoke up before she had a chance to counter.

"Why don't you just go by yourself? I'll stay here. I promise not to do anything stupid, scouts honour"

He held up his fingers in a mock salute while grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Her hand shot out and grabbed his, bringing it over to rest in her lap. He tore his eyes away from her to stare at their joined hands. He of course started blushing furiously.

"John...I do not wish to be separated from you for too long"

She couldn't bring herself to look at his eyes and continued to stare at his hand in hers. When she didn't speak again John opened his mouth.

"Again, because of the security risk?"

She had unconsciously started rubbing his knuckles gently with her thumb. She continued to stare at their hands as she spoke.

"N...Yes, because of the risk"

John didn't fail to notice the slip but decided to let her off.

"Ok, if it'll make you feel any better I'll go with you. I can hang out in another store while you get your nails done"

She stopped her ministrations on his hand and visibly stiffened.

"I'll make sure it's a store opposite the boutique that you can keep watch over"

It took what seemed like an eternity for her to answer.

"Thank you John. I'd like that. But I would suggest that you shower and change first, you are starting to smell"

She raised her eyes to meet his and they both found themselves smiling once again.

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**I'm not really sure I like the ending of this chapter, it's more of a set up for the next chapter in truth.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for the delay guys. I suffered from some major distractions while trying to write this. However you might be happy to know I have a rough outline for at least 8 more chapters!**

**Thanks to reviewers, kaotic2, DragonSeraphin, TK-MR, ElusiveSanity, acer-sigma, clearfanfic and Dimension3500.**

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John stood from the bed and turned to face her. He stood with his hands on his hips and his mouth wide in mock exasperation at her before relenting and chuckling.

"Okay. If it'll please Your Highness I'll take a shower"

She tilted her head and looked at him quizzically.

"Your Highness?"

"Um, yeah. It's a term for royalty...um...a Princess"

John rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and waited for her response. She looked away from him and analyzed his words before returning to him with one of the most beautiful smiles she'd ever gifted him. She responded in an ever so slightly seductive tone.

"Thank you for explaining"

He looked at her completely flabbergasted. She spoke again, but this time in a motherly commanding tone.

"Now go, take a shower. I wasn't joking when I said you are starting to smell"

John closed his mouth with an audible smack. He lifted his collar to his nose and took a sniff. _Damn, she's right. _He performed a mock bow to her and shuffled off in to the adjoining bathroom between their rooms, shutting the door behind him.

He switched the shower on before turning to look in the mirror.

_Get a grip John. You're reading too much in to all this. She made you breakfast because you did something nice for her, that's all._

He sighed and stepped in to the now red hot shower. He flinched a little before turning the temperature down. He stepped under the spray and simply let it wash over him, not in the mood for scrubbing with various soaps. He tilted his head back and let the water run over his face and through his hair. He stayed like this for a few minutes before deciding he was clean enough. _I didn't smell that bad._ He turned off the shower and stepped out, wrapping a towel around himself before giving the steamed up mirror a wipe with his hand. He picked his toothbrush out from the jar and gave his teeth a quick scrub while a random thought popped in to his head. _Do Terminators brush their teeth?_

He quickly shook himself from his thoughts and headed for the door joining with his bedroom. He opened the door to find the last thing he expected right on the other side of the door.

"Aaah" he let out a quick yelp of surprise.

She merely stared at him and his sudden outburst.

"Cameron wha, what are you doing here?"

She looked at him as if he were an idiot before replying.

"I'm going to take a shower"

She brushed past him a little closer than was necessary and moved in to the bathroom closing the door behind her.

John stared at the closed door with his mouth open. _Hang on, why didn't she just use the door in her own room?_ John closed his mouth with a clomp for the second time that day and turned around to get dressed. When he did he found his clothes carefully laid out on the bed for him. They were decent ones too, dark jeans, t-shirt and a nice newish jacket. _Why does she want me to look nice? Wait, does she think this is a date? No, don't be stupid, she's just saving time, being efficient. _He shook his head to clear it a little and dried himself off. As he got dressed he let his mind wander, and not surprisingly it wandered to Cameron. Unfortunately for his current mindset it wandered straight to thoughts of her in the shower. Thoughts of the water cascading over her naked body, of her soaping herself up, of her hands moving slowly up and down her legs. He felt his body starting to react to the inappropriate thoughts. He smacked himself on the side of his head and tried to concentrate on getting dressed.

Having somewhat successfully negotiated that task he headed downstairs to the living room and slumped down on the couch. He switched on the TV and started flicking between channels to kill time.

_Where the hell is she? The shower was off when I left my room so she must have been in hers by that time._

John had to hand it to Skynet. It really knew its stereotypes, including the one about girls taking an age to get ready.

"Cameron come on, we're running out of daylight here" he yelled in the general direction of the ceiling.

Another few minutes passed by until John's patience ran out. He turned the TV off and cast the remote aside. He stood and turned to face the stairs with the intention of climbing them when what he saw stopped him in his tracks. Cameron descended the stairs and her appearance took John's breath away. She was wearing a pair of light coloured open toed sandals with a small heel, his eyes trailing further up and over her smooth bare legs to the slightly too short denim miniskirt. A mere sliver of her midriff on show as her white top was, like the skirt, just a touch too short. A cream coloured cropped jacket completed the look. It wasn't her clothing however that stunned him. Her hair was lightly curled and fell in beautiful waves about her shoulders. She had applied more make-up than usual. A thicker application of eye liner and a subtle amount of eye shadow accompanied her light pink and moist looking lip gloss.

He must have been staring. She walked over to him until her face was right in his.

"John"

...

"It's time to go"

With that she turned on her heel and headed out the door. John shook his head and forced his mouth closed for the third time that day. He quickly followed after her, remembering to grab the keys to the Dodge Ram parked on the driveway on the way out. Such was his eagerness that he barely remembered to lock the door behind him as he marched towards the truck. When he arrived he found Cameron waiting patiently by the passenger side door.

"What's the problem?"

"No problem, but isn't it customary for a gentleman to open a door for a lady?"

John grinned at her before opening the door and waving his arm in an 'after you' gesture. He took a slight bow before saying.

"Your carriage awaits Your Highness"

John was sure a slight blush reached her cheeks as she passed by him. He was also positive that she made sure he saw a healthy expanse of thigh as she climbed in to the truck. He closed the door gently behind her as he struggled to keep the dirty minded grin off his face. He rounded the front of the truck and climbed in the driver's seat. He turned to look at her and found her sitting in a very demure pose with her legs crossed and her hands in her lap.

"Is there a problem John?

"N, no, no problem"

He continued looking at her for a moment before starting the engine and pulling out of the Connor household driveway. The silence between the two passengers was only permeated by the radio, to which Cameron had set the station to the same one as the trip back from Mexico to recover Cromartie. John couldn't stop himself from stealing furtive glances at his companion. She was still in a very ladylike position, staring out of the window at apparently nothing. When they reached the mall parking lot John switched off the engine and stepped out of the car, fully expecting Cameron to follow suit. When she didn't, he looked at her face through the windscreen. She stared back at him for a moment before motioning to the door with her head.

_Are you kidding me???_

John huffed and strode round to the passenger door and opened it. He held out his hand which Cameron gladly accepted and gracefully stepped out of the truck, not losing her ladylike demeanour in the slightest.

"You really are taking this whole 'Your Highness' thing too far you know"

He tried so hard to keep a straight face but caved in the end. What started as a light chuckle ended up in a full on belly laugh. She merely stared at him with a barely tolerant look on her face.

"Okay Your Highness, come on" he managed to get out in between the laughs.

John offered Cameron his arm. She stared at it and accessed her database on social conventions before reaching out and linking her arm through his with a happy smile plastered on her face.

They walked arm in arm across the car park and into the mall, only breaking their hold on each other so that John could open a door for the lady. He had a feeling she would insist.

When she dragged him in the opposite direction to the boutique he knew something was up and put up a slight resistance to her pull. She of course immediately detected it and turned around to look at him. She was about to say something but John beat her to it.

"What's wrong?"

"You've stopped"

"No, not that. You haven't said a word since we left the house. What's wrong?"

She let out a particularly human sounding sigh before looking in to his eyes.

"John, don't you think I'm ever so slightly overdoing my appearance for a trip to the mall?"

He examined her again while trying not to let his eyes linger too long.

"Yeah, about that, I was gonna mention it earlier but didn't wanna upset you"

"What do you think the reason for that is?

She looked up at him with her big adorable eyes waiting expectantly for an answer. To his credit he tried not to look like he didn't have the slightest clue how to answer that question.

"Um, I dunno, maybe, um, you're ah, trying to ah, kinda like um, blend in some more?"

He failed miserably.

She untangled herself from him and folded her arms across her chest in a suddenly very defensive pose.

"No John that's not the reason"

"Well what is then?"

Her eyes started to glisten slightly from her yet to be shed tears.

"It's because of something you said this morning"

John's face betrayed his puzzlement as he shook his head in confusion.

"You called me Your Highness. You compared me to royalty, to a Princess"

She cast her eyes away from his and down to the ground before elaborating.

"I wanted to know what it would be like to be treated like a Princess. To have all eyes on me, for people to admire me and..."

She hesitated before continuing.

"...and to not be treated like a piece of metal. Like a tool to be used and discarded"

She raised her eyes to his again and he caught sight of the tears escaping down her cheeks, causing her eye liner to leave dark streaks down her cheeks.

"I wanted to feel special"

Those five words bit in to John more than any other words he imagined ever would. He himself was on the verge of tears at this point. He did the only thing he could think of and enveloped her in a hug. He hugged her just like any teenage guy would hug his upset teenage sister. It just felt like something he should do.

She slowly and awkwardly returned his embrace, deciding to accept his attempt at comfort.

Despite her previous admission, she had felt special the last few days. Sarah and Derek weren't around to worsen her mood and John had been paying her more attention than normal. He had been treating her as a person made of metal, not as a machine covered with skin. He alone had taken the time to talk to her, to explain things to her, to ask her how she was feeling. He even made her a hot drink for no reason other than to be nice to her.

They separated from their embrace and looked in to each other's eyes.

"Thank you John"

"Any time. Now come on, let's go get you pampered Your Highness"

She smiled a small smile and linked her arm through his again. They made a quick stop to the bathrooms for her to fix her makeup. He managed to convince her that it was safe for him to remain outside, highlighting it would be highly unlikely for a terminator to be looking for him outside the ladies' bathrooms.

The 'women taking an age' stereotype came to light again and John found himself standing outside the ladies' for a rather conspicuous amount of time. He didn't mind, it gave him time to think about what Cameron had just confessed to him.

_She wanted to feel special. Damn, she must have been so lonely. She gets nothing but crap from mom and Derek and I've been less than friendly lately. But hey, I'm making an effort...and so is she, wow._

She came out of the bathroom looking just as beautiful as before. Unless you looked really closely you wouldn't be able to tell she'd been in tears less than ten minutes ago.

"Ready to go?" he said through a smile to her.

"Yes"

He offered her his arm again. Instead of accepting it her hand shot out and claimed his as her own. He smiled at the action and set off walking towards the boutique.

"So...why were you pulling me in a different direction earlier?"

"What do you mean?"

"Cameron, I have over a decade's worth of training from my Mother and various mercenaries. I know the layout of this mall along with all its exits and possible ambush points. I know your nail appointment is in that direction..."

He motioned with his head to their left.

"...and you were pulling me in that direction"

He motioned to their right this time.

She looked away from him slightly and considered her response.

"I wanted to surprise you. I was heading to the ice cream parlour over there. I wanted to thank you for being so nice to me these last few days. You have no idea how much it means to me"

John looked a little taken aback for a moment before gathering himself and asking.

"Well, do we still have time before your appointment?"

She performed a few calculations in her CPU. John could see her eyes involuntarily moving rapidly as she did.

"No. I calculate that with our delays there is insufficient time for us to safely ingest an ice cream before having to leave"

He looked at her rather quizzically for a moment. He wasn't used to hearing her speak in such a mechanical way recently.

"I wouldn't want you to get brain freeze"

_That's better._

John let out a hearty laugh and pulled her along with him.

They walked hand in hand to their destination on the second floor of the mall. A bright pink and girly storefront greeted them when they arrived. John prayed a silent thanks to the mall gods that there was an electronics store directly opposite.

"Ok, so how long is this gonna take?"

"I'm only getting the broken nail replaced so it shouldn't take long, around 20 minutes"

"Alright, I'll be in that store over there"

He pointed his spare thumb towards the green store fronted 'Buy More'. He moved towards the store but felt his left arm firmly held in place by Cameron. He looked at their joined hands before looking at her face for an answer.

"John...please be careful"

Her voice seemed to crack a little when she said his name.

"I always am"

"I'm serious John"

He looked at her almost pleading expression before pulling the goofy smile off his face and becoming serious.

"Okay Cameron, I'll be careful"

"Promise?"

"I promise"

With that she let him go and headed in to the boutique. She greeted the receptionist with a warm smile on her face and was invited to sit in the manicurists chair to wait. John simply watched and marvelled at how she blended in so well. He gave her one last smile through the window which she returned and he meandered off to the store opposite. He casually strolled in through the front door while covertly scouting for the exits and taking in the layout. He greeted the employee that passed by him with a pleasant nod to which the employee returned with a smile on his face. He actually felt normal for a change, he was partaking in the popular male tradition of sauntering up and down the aisles trying to kill time waiting for a woman.

_I hope you appreciate the effort I'm putting in here Cameron,_

Cameron sat facing the window while the manicurist worked on her. She kept her eyes focused on any and all movement in and around the Buy More while being forced to make small talk with the highly annoying blonde working on her nail.

_Humans are more likely to perform a task better if they like the person they are performing it for._

_Accessing social database..._

_Selecting topics likely to interest this female..._

_Topic selected..._

"So tell me more about yourself"

"Well my name is Becki and I'm from..."

Cameron tuned her irritating voice out and concentrated on her mission. She analysed everyone who even passed by the store. She did NOT like being separated from John for any length of time in such a public place.

"...and then the asshole took off without so much as a goodbye. Okay I think we're all done here, what do you think?"

Cameron turned and examined her hand. Becki may have been annoying but she certainly knew her trade. Her nails looked just as good as before and she gave Becki a smile and nod in thanks.

"Okay, if you'll please follow me to the register we can let you get back to your boyfriend"

Cameron tilted her head at the statement. Becki smirked at Cameron as she led her to the register.

"What do you mean by boyfriend?"

"Oh come on, that cute guy who was holding your hand before you came in, you're telling me he's not your boyfriend"

"No, he's...just a friend"

"Well trust me, um..."

"Cameron"

"Cameron, trust me, he's so in to you, and you like him too. I can tell"

Cameron's face betrayed nothing in her unblinking 'scary robot' expression. Inside however, her CPU was running at a million miles an hour.

_She thinks John likes me, she thinks I like him, why would she think that? John can't like a machine in that way, has our behaviour towards each other been suggesting otherwise?_

She was so intent on her own permutations that she almost didn't realise that Becki was just staring with her upright palm extended out towards her. She replayed the last thing she said in her CPU.

"_That'll be twenty dollars please" right._

She reached in to the back pocket of her skirt and pulled out a large bundle of notes. Becki's eyes widened as Cameron pulled off a fifty dollar note and handed it to her.

"Keep the change"

"Uh, thanks Cameron. I'll see you around"

She gave the blonde a tight smile before turning and heading for the door. She felt a certain amount of pride in herself as she exited the store.

_She made an excellent job of my nails. John will like them, she deserves her tip._

She still couldn't understand why John was beginning to influence some of her decisions and actions. She scheduled an analysis for during her next standby cycle.

_Perhaps John will watch over me again._

She performed a very human like shake of her head as once again John influenced her thoughts beyond her mission parameters. Refocusing on her mission, she purposefully strode towards the Buy More. When she was about halfway she froze as her scanners matched a 'man' to her records.

_Analysis complete, match found..._

_Subject identified..._

_T-888_

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**Wow, cliffhanger!**

**Yes I got 'Buy More' from Chuck before you ask!**


	5. Chapter 5

**This chapter is a little shorter than the last one, but the ending seemed like a natural stopping point. I know I suck at writing action scenes so hopefully the second half of the chapter makes up for it.**

**Thanks again to reviewers, kaotic2, Leetmouse, acer-sigma, clearfanfic, ElusiveSanity, olischulu and TK-MR.**

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_Analysis complete, match found..._

_Subject identified..._

_T-888_

Cameron halted her advance towards the 'Buy More' and performed a detailed analysis on the Terminator.

He was wearing grey cargo pants, grey shirt and was carrying a large water bottle. His head was turning side to side in a very mechanical fashion scanning every face in the mall. She scanned the company logo on his left breast pocket.

_It is looking for someone. I must get John out of here...I can't let anything happen to him._

She recognised the words as her own from the prison in Mexico. She suddenly felt overcome with emotions, anxiety, nervousness and even a little fear. The last one was new even to her and her highly advanced CPU. Back in Mexico she wasn't developed enough to feel anything as powerful as fear, but now it was on the verge of overwhelming her neural network. She tried her best to ignore the feelings and moved forwards with the intent of taking John out of the fire escape at the rear of the store.

Before she had taken two steps the Terminator turned his head and looked directly at her. His eyes glowed an evil red as his own facial recognition software matched her identity.

_Identity confirmed – Cameron Baum – Model T0K-715_

_Action – Terminate_

Cameron saw the glow and knew she'd been identified. Instead of doing as her tactical subroutines instructed and engaging the Terminator, the glow of its eyes added to her growing fear and she froze, literally on the spot. She stood about 30 feet from the machine with her back to the railing on the edge of the balcony overlooking the ground floor.

The machine dropped the water bottle and reached around to the back of its waistband and to the concealed 9mm. He pulled it out and quickly started to empty the clip in to Cameron.

The mall filled with screams as shoppers scattered in a frenzy. Some froze like Cameron, others hid and others simply dropped their bags and ran. No doubt thinking it was just another incident of gang violence, or a psychopath taking out his madness on the world.

Cameron felt the 'pain' of every bullet as they struck her, eight in her torso, three in her left arm and one in her right. The ones she felt the most were the four that sliced in to her beautiful face, narrowly missing her eyes. Her thought processes were so clogged with fear for John that she still failed to react to the threat the machine posed.

Having emptied the clip, the machine dropped the now useless weapon and charged towards his target.

_Caution, target remains unresponsive..._

_Possible trap, disable target quickly..._

The machine picked up its pace toward Cameron. Her tactical subroutines were advising her to use the machines momentum against it and force it over the railing behind her. She knew it was the right thing to do even without her systems advising her. It would buy her the time to get John to safety.

John.

_I'm sorry John, I've failed you_

She stood motionless as her body simply would not react to her tactical systems instructions. When the machine was around three metres away and starting to extend its arms to grab her, out of the corner of her eye she saw a dark coloured blur hurl itself along the floor in a baseball style slide. It put itself in the machines path and caused it to trip, losing its balance and sending it hurtling over the railing, bending it as it impacted, and down the 30 foot drop to the ground. It hit the ground with an almighty crash, leaving a sizeable crater in the patterned floor.

John stood up from the floor holding his ribs and looked at Cameron who was standing stock still. He hurriedly shook her by the shoulder.

"Cameron, come on, we gotta get out of here" he had to raise his voice over the screaming crowds.

Nothing.

"CAMERON, WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU?" he shouted in a panic.

Still no response.

"I'm sorry Cameron but this is for your own good"

He pulled his arm back and gave her a firm slap across her cheek, his fingers brushing over the now exposed coltan as he did. His action seemed to have the desired effect as her eyes focused on him, as if seeing him for the first time.

"John?"

She roused from her near catatonic state.

"WE HAVE TO GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE"

He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the 'Buy More'. Thankfully she moved along with his pull. He hadn't the faintest idea what he would do if she still refused to budge. He broke out in to a run towards the back of the store still pulling her along. He shouldered the fire escape open and started climbing down the metal staircase. For once in his life he actually appreciated the training his mother put him through as he reached the parking lot at the bottom of the staircase. He quickly scanned the lot and located their truck, once again thankful his training told him to park next to a landmark, a lamppost in this case. He ducked down low and motioned for Cameron to do the same behind him. She complied and followed him behind the nearest car. She appeared to be working on autopilot to John.

He carefully poked his head up over the hood of the car and looked towards the mall entrance hoping to not spot the machine. He didn't. He breathed a sigh of relief before grabbing Cameron again and pulling her in between cars towards their truck, making sure he kept both his and her head down. They darted in and amongst rows of parked vehicles until they reached their truck. John prayed she wouldn't insist on him getting the door for her. She didn't. They both climbed in and John started the truck and quickly headed toward the exit.

After driving in a random pattern for about half an hour and back tracking a couple of times to ensure they weren't being followed, he changed course to head towards their home. On the way he kept looking over to his silent companion. She sat stiff as a board staring straight ahead with her unblinking eyes and blank expression. He tried to ignore her behaviour and concentrated on the road.

Soon the truck pulled in to the driveway of their home and John noticed their other truck already parked. Sarah and Derek had returned.

_Oh crap, this is so not gonna go well_

He put the truck in park and switched off the engine. Before he could turn and talk to Cameron she was already in the process of closing the door behind her and stalking off towards the house. John quickly sprang out of the car and hurriedly followed her. He just about caught up to her as she entered the house. He barely made it two steps inside when he heard his mother screaming.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE"

She took in the scene before her. John was holding his ribs and wincing slightly. Cameron however was a mess. Her top and jacket were covered in bullet holes and blood, and her left cheek had four large gouges with coltan shining through them. Sarah also didn't fail to notice her decidedly revealing choice of clothes and the liberal application of makeup on what remained of her face.

Cameron looked at Sarah for a moment before turning and trudging up the stairs without a word, leaving John to take the flak.

The future saviour of mankind watched his friend depart with a sad look on his face before turning to face his mother.

_Alright Johnny Boy, be a man, show her you're not afraid of her_

"Listen, mom..."

She tore her eyes away from the staircase and rounded on her son.

"Don't you 'listen mom' me. Now explain to me where you two have been and why. Why she has a body full of bullets and why you're holding your ribs"

She was struggling to control the volume of her voice and was clearly on the verge of exploding if she didn't like his answers.

_Alright, you said be a man and real men tell the truth...sometimes_

"We went to the mall"

"Why?"

He gave his mother a barely tolerant look before continuing.

"If you'd have let me finish I would have explained that I needed to go to the Buy More to pick up some computer equipment"

She eyed him warily before gesturing for him to continue.

"A triple eight showed up and attacked Cameron.

"Attacked Cameron?"

"Yeah, attacked her. It mustn't have recognised me because it just shoved me aside and focused on her. That's why my ribs hurt and that's why she's full of holes"

John waited with baited breath as she considered his answers.

"So why did it attack her and why was it at the mall?"

"I don't know mom, we didn't manage to pull its chip. Cameron threw it over a balcony and we got away"

"Alright. Let me take a look at your injuries"

She moved to help him take his jacket off before he stopped her.

"Mom I'm fine. She's the one that's hurt"

He gestured to the ceiling with a toss of his head.

"Damaged, John. She's damaged, not hurt. Don't ever forget that"

_You'll never know the half of how much she's hurting right now_

"Not now mom. I'm going to go help her"

He waited for a reply that never came and turned to head up the stairs. Sarah watched him leave and shook her head.

_Dammit John, why couldn't you have sent another Uncle Bob for protection?_

As she questioned the future General, someone else from the future sidled up next to her with a beer in his hand.

"What was all that about?"

Derek looked better than he had recently. He had taken Jesse's betrayal pretty hard and hadn't been around for some decent lengths of time. Today however his designer stubble had returned to a good looking length and he'd recently indulged in a haircut by the looks of it.

"Well...a triple eight showed up and attacked Cameron...and John risked himself to defend her"

"He told you that?"

"He's my son Derek. He didn't have to tell me"

Derek didn't quite know what she meant by that so he shrugged his shoulders and headed out to the back porch to drink his beer in peace. Sarah meanwhile hadn't taken her eyes off the stairs during the whole exchange.

* * *

John knocked gently on Cameron's door and waited for a reply. When he heard none he hesitated before slowly pushing the door open and peeking in.

"Cameron, are you okay? Do you need any help?"

John looked over to her. She was perched on the edge of her bed looking down at her hands in her lap. She didn't look up at him as he moved further in to the room and closed the door behind him. He came and sat next to her with their legs touching ever so slightly. She had her hands out flat on her lap looking at her perfectly manicured nails. The contact made her stir and she raised her head up to look at him before looking down again.

John sighed before reaching out and taking one of her hands in his and tenderly stroking her knuckles.

"Come on, let me help you with those wounds"

He reached under the bed for the tool and first aid kits he knew she kept there for emergencies.

_Sorta like her version of a his and hers repair kit._

John laughed silently to himself at his personal joke. He laid the two kits out on her bed and noticed she still hadn't moved. He sighed and moved around so that he was in front of her. Bending over slightly he cupped her face in his hands, making sure to touch her coltan cheek as he did.

"Hey come on, snap out of it"

Still no response. Her eyes didn't even meet his despite being so close. John examined her face closely before continuing.

"Okay, if you don't wanna talk that's fine. But if you want to get those bullets out of you you'll have to get undressed first"

John realised what he had said when her eyes rose to meet his. He took his hands off her face and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"I, er, I promise I won't look"

_You idiot, she doesn't care if you look or not. You've seen it all before anyway._

She apparently agreed as she started to remove her now ruined jacket, followed by her ruined top and without any hesitation her bra quickly joined the pile. John immediately went bright red as the gorgeous girl in front of him stripped to the waist without any reserve or shyness.

_Quit staring and do what you came here to do_

John closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He opened them and reached in to the tool kit to retrieve the needle nosed pliers. He set to work on removing the bullets while trying not to let his eyes wander. He worked silently and delicately, not wanting to cause her any additional pain. He would remove a bullet, clean the wound with antiseptic and place a bandage over it. She only responded when John needed access to a wound and moved as directed. When he was finished he pulled back slightly to examine his work.

She looked like a rag doll with the amount of patches on her. He performed the same procedure with the antiseptic and bandages on her beautiful face. Her eyes never met his as he did. She stared at nothing and continued to avoid his gaze.

"Okay, I think we're all done. Did I miss any?

She said nothing but instead stood and walked in to the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

_You're welcome_

He heard the shower start to flow and set to work cleaning and putting away the supplies. He put her ruined clothes in a pile near the door with the intention of putting them in the bin later.

_What the hell is going on with her? First she freezes up against a Terminator, and she hasn't said a word since it happened. Well at least she hasn't tried to kill me yet._

The shower stopped running and she emerged from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body. John stood expectantly but she ignored him and headed to the dresser and opened the top drawer. She pulled out a white tank top and a pair of pink pyjama bottoms similar to the purple ones from the day before. Without any warning she dropped her towel and started getting dressed.

Despite having just seen her topless, John was overcome with embarrassment and spun round to stare at the suddenly very interesting trees out in the back yard through the window. He heard the bed creak and turned round to see her resume her position from when he first entered the room.

John sat beside her and laid his hand on her knee in a comforting gesture, the embarrassment subsiding now that she was fully clothed again.

"So are you ready to tell me what's bothering you and why you haven't said a word since we left the mall?

She looked in to his eyes and saw nothing but kindness.

Her eyes started to glisten and she threw her arms around his waist. She clung on to him and started sobbing uncontrollably. She managed to squeeze out a few words in between the sobs.

"I'm...sorry...John"


	6. Chapter 6

**My plans for this chapter majorly deviated from the one I had planned, so sorry if it's seems a little...off.**

**Thanks again to reviewers, Renderer, kaotic2, acer-sigma, TK-MR and clearfanfic.**

**By the way, I don't celebrate new year. That's why this is being posted a little under 2 hours before midnight on new years eve! :)**

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Sarah stalked up the staircase of her home with the intention of calling John out on his actions at the mall. She climbed the steps with true purpose and determination.

_I always knew he was too attached to that damn machine, and now he's risking his life to protect her. It has to stop now._

She burst in to his bedroom without knocking or even hesitating.

"John"

_Where the hell is he? He'd better not be in her room with her._

She strode out of his room with as much subtlety as she displayed when entering. She marched the short distance down the hallway to Cameron's room and entered in a similar fashion to a moment ago.

"John, we need to..."

She stopped in her tracks at the sight before her. John was sitting on a chair near the bed leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. His hands were propping his chin up as if he were deep in thought. His eyes remained fixed on the machine. She was tucked up in her bed with the covers pulled up to her chin with her eyes closed. Sarah thought she looked just like any other pretty, sleeping teenage girl, innocence personified.

"Would you mind keeping your voice down please"

It was her son who quietly spoke, snapping her out of her examination.

"She's in standby before you ask"

Sarah's stunned silence continued as John stood from his chair and faced her. He spoke in a voice barely above a whisper so as not to disturb his friend's peaceful slumber.

"You wanted to talk right? Next door"

He held his arm out and motioned towards the door.

As his mother turned to exit, he himself turned and looked at Cameron. There was no other way of putting it, she looked angelic. He bent over and pulled the covers up a little higher and brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear. He turned and headed out the door towards the inevitable confrontation with his mother. He left Cameron's room closing the door behind him gently. He steeled himself for the upcoming argument during the short journey back to his own bedroom. He entered the room and turned to close the door behind him. He took a deep breath before turning to face his mother. She stood with her hands crossed over her chest and stared daggers at him from across the room.

"What the hell is all that about next door?"

She spoke with barely restrained anger that threatened to spill over at any moment. He sighed before answering.

"I patched up her wounds and convinced her to go in to standby. Her flesh heals faster that way"

He conveniently left out the parts about her crying and holding on to him for the better part of an hour. He left out the real reason she went in to standby, to analyse the new powerful emotion. He left out the part of how he tucked her in, stroked her hair and gently kissed her brow before she went in to standby.

"So if that triple eight were to come along now we're pretty much screwed?"

"Mom..."

"No John you listen to me. We can't afford to have her out of action just because you want to be able to parade her around like she's your girlfriend a little sooner"

Her eyes bore in to him and he shuffled on his feet nervously.

"Wha, what do you mean by that?"

"Oh come on John, I've seen the way you look at it. I also saw the way it was dressed yesterday. John, It's using its appearance to get you to drop your guard"

"She"

"What?"

"She is a she, and she has a name. Her name is Cameron...and you know nothing about her"

Seeing the look of determination in her son's eyes and hearing the seething anger in his voice left Sarah certain that he was leaving no room for argument on this one. She carefully examined hi s face for an opening and found none. She brushed past him and moved silently out in to the hall, leaving the door open behind her. John let out the breath he had been holding and felt his hands starting to shake from the excess adrenaline coursing through his veins. He shakily moved to his bed to sit down for a moment and recompose himself. He had just stood up to his mother for only about the third time in his short life. It had taken its toll on him mentally, but he knew he had to be strong right now...for her.

He picked himself up and stepped in to the bathroom. He turned the tap on and splashed cold water on his face before looking at himself in the mirror.

_Pull yourself together John. It's not the last time you'll have to do that._

He stood up straight, took a deep breath and turned to face Cameron's door. With a confidence he never knew he had he quietly turned the door handle and entered her room. He shuffled his way over to the chair next to her bed and sat down. He looked at the subject of his recent argument. She looked so peaceful and innocent while 'sleeping'.

_Oh yeah, she's definitely worth it._

A soft whirring sound tore his attention away from his thoughts and back to her.

_She's reactivating. 15 seconds._

The seconds felt like minutes to John as they ticked by. He saw her eyes move beneath her eyelids signalling that she was 'awake'. Instead of her eyes snapping open as usual, and as he expected, she seemed to stretch and let out a soft moan of contentment before letting her eyes slowly flutter open.

_Damn she's beautiful._

"Good evening John" she breathed.

John couldn't help but smile at how human she appeared.

"Hey, how are you feeling?"

She tugged the covers up a little higher before answering.

"Like I do not want to get out of bed. I've never felt this way before, I usually do not spend so much time in standby either."

"You usually don't have new emotions to analyse"

He smiled at her before continuing.

"So what did you analysis tell you?"

She looked away from him slightly before moving to sit up with her back to the wall and her knees pulled up to her chest. To John's surprise she pulled the blanket with her and cuddled it up to her chin again.

"I'm not sure John"

She hesitated slightly before patting the spot next to her just as John had done for her that morning. He blushed slightly as he moved on to the bed next to her. She surprised him once again when she pulled the covers over to share with him.

_Well John, here you are tucked up under the covers with your beautiful cyborg protector slash best friend. What are you gonna do now Johnny boy?_

Luckily her voice stopped his imagination from following what his teenage hormones were telling him.

"I know now why I froze up when the Terminator attacked"

She hesitated and John noticed she seemed to be taking a big interest in the flowery pattern of the blanket. He reached his hand out under the blanket until it found her knee. He gave it a gentle squeeze and a tender rub.

"Hey, you know you can tell me anything right. Whatever you've found, you can trust me okay"

She smiled at him before continuing. John didn't see it necessary to stop his comforting gesture under the blanket, or remove his touch from her.

"My analysis indicated to me that it was fear that caused me to freeze. I have never experienced an emotion as strong as fear before. Under normal circumstances I would simply shut down because of the surge in data"

"Normal circumstances?"

"The jeep explosion caused damage to my chip which you already know. I believe it affected my 'Auto Shutdown Data Protection' functionality. It is designed to protect my neural network from expanding beyond it preset parameters. It prevents me from growing beyond Skynet limits"

John swallowed deeply.

"Growing?"

Whether subconsciously or not the two had shifted closer to each other. Their faces mere inches apart.

"Yes John, I am a one of a kind model. I was created to perfectly mimic human behaviour, to be the perfect infiltrator. In order to do this my neural network is capable of understanding and recreating genuine emotion. The system was designed to be fully functional for my first mission, only then did Skynets limits come in to effect. They have been present ever since, up until the car bomb"

John released the breath he didn't realise he'd been holding.

"You mean you can really feel? And I don't just mean this..."

He gave her knee a light squeeze.

"...you mean you can really feel fear, sadness, happiness?"

"I can feel the machine equivalent of emotions, but they are as close to the real things as a machine can ever get"

John didn't know what to say, so he asked the only thing that came to him.

"Are you okay now?"

She smiled at him and leaned her head over to rest on his shoulder, causing John to blush and stop the movement of his hand momentarily.

"Yes John I'm fine, thank you for asking. However now I must enter standby shortly after experiencing a strong emotion for the first time"

"So does this mean you won't freeze up through fear again?"

"It means I won't freeze up...but it will influence my actions"

John swallowed nervously.

"What do you mean by that?"

"It means I will feel fear and it will affect me in the same way it affects you. The more I experience it the less it will affect me. Do not worry, I will not let it affect my mission to protect you"

John let out a small laugh.

"I'm only concerned about you right now. I couldn't give a crap about my protection"

"Well you should John"

She lifted her head off his shoulder and moved away slightly. For John, that tiny little separation may as well have been a great yawning chasm.

"What you did today at the mall was very dangerous John. You could have been seriously injured...or killed"

She looked away from him before speaking again.

"You should not have risked your life to protect me. I'm not worth it"

Several emotions played across John's face in a short space of time, first confusion, then sadness and then anger. He extricated himself from under the blanket and stood up from the bed. He didn't even turn to face her as he replied.

"I have just had to go through this argument with my mother. I defended you, I lied for you, and now here you are telling me the exact same thing she did"

His voice had reached a rather high level by this point but he didn't care as he continued his rant.

"All I've heard about since I was this big..."

He held his hand out flat about two feet from the ground.

"...is how I'm so important. About how important I'll be..."

He spun round to face the bed. He could have sworn she was practically cowering behind her blanket, she'd never seen John Connor so angry.

"...Do you know how many people have died for me, because of me...?"

She didn't reply.

"...Six. SIX PEOPLE CAMERON"

She flinched at his sudden rise in voice directed squarely at her.

He remembered those people in his head. Kyle Reese. Todd and Janelle, his foster parents. Miles Dyson. Uncle Bob. Riley.

She stood from the bed taking up a position behind his turned back, discarding the blanket as she did. She placed a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to soothe him. He merely shrugged it off.

"Those people did not die in vain John" she managed to choke out in a tiny voice, looking at her unwanted hand.

"Yes they did Cameron. They all died because of me. They were all people and they didn't deserve to die just because of the 'Great John Connor'"

She was about to reply when he cut her off.

"John..."

"So don't you dare tell me you're not worth protecting when you're the one I care about most of all"

It was true. Sure he cared about Riley, Todd and Janelle, and even Uncle Bob. Of course he cared for the father he never met. But with the exception of his mother, Cameron was the one person he cared about the most in this world.

"I'm not worth it"

She looked to the floor and shuffled her feet in a very human gesture.

"CAMERON. Will you get it through that thick metal skull of yours that you ARE worth it. What did you think? Just because you're a damn machine that you're not..."

John never saw the slap coming. But he certainly felt it. He stood looking at her in stunned silence for a moment. Her eyes were brimming with tears. They threatened to spill as she looked at her hand, the same hand that had meant to comfort him a moment ago. She moved past him and to her closet, still facing away from him as she spoke in a trembling voice.

"I need to start my nightly patrol. Please leave while I change my clothes"

John stood stock still, not registering what she had said when she turned around and screamed at him.

"GET OUT"

His body did as commanded, his brain still lagging a few moments behind him as he almost tripped on her discarded blanket while moving to the door. He kept his stare on her back as he felt around for the door knob. Finally finding it, he opened the door and slipped out in to the hall, sparing a last glance at her form.

He moved on autopilot towards his room.

John didn't sleep much that night. Partially due to the pain in his ribs, but mostly because of the throbbing pain in his cheek, serving as a constant reminder of what had just happened.

He lay on his bed trying to find a comfortable position while analysing what went wrong a few minutes ago. He strained his ears when he heard her door click closed. He heard her heavy boots make a faint sound on the hallway floor as she left for her nightly patrol. He heard the steps pause outside his door.

_Please come in Cameron._

Her steps could be heard again, getting quieter all the time until they could no longer be heard.

John Connor, future leader of all humanity shed a silent tear, the salty liquid stinging his already bruising cheek.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi guys,**

**I want to let you all know that the updates will dry up pretty quickly from now on. I'm back at work after my Christmas break and have a lot of studying to do for my Cisco exam on Feb 4th. Don't worry, I do intend to update still, they'll just be a lot less frequent.**

**Once again thanks to reviewers, kaotic2, acer-sigma, clearfanfic, TK-MR, The1Russter, Casobs2 and CloudyShadows.**

**I'm particularly proud of this chapter. It was so easy to write and just seemed to flow really well. I think this is my strongest chapter so far! Please let me know if you agree!**

**(Please note I've raised this story to a T for one use of foul language in this chapter)**

* * *

Sarah sat at the kitchen table holding her coffee cup in both hands taking an occasional sip.

_She's still just sitting there staring at her hands. What the hell is she doing? I hope this glitch doesn't end up with her trying to kill us again._

She tore her gaze away from the living room couch where the aforementioned cyborg had been sitting, unbeknownst to Sarah, since the beginning of her 'patrol'. Actually, after she had hesitated outside John's door debating whether to go in, she had came downstairs and sat staring at her hands for the whole night. She stared at the hands that had harmed her best friend John Connor, the only person in her world that mattered to her and the only one who didn't treat her as a 'metal'.

_But he called me 'a damn machine' last night, he said I had a thick metal skull. I think he didn't mean those words, but it doesn't make it okay for him to say them. What am I to him?_

She looked up from her hands for the first time in 10 hours and suddenly stood, causing Sarah to place her hand on the 9mm concealed in her waistband. She relaxed a little as she watched Cameron move to the window and start her daily staring contest with the front yard.

_Some things never change._

Sarah took her hand off her gun and returned it to the cup, bringing it up to her mouth for another sip as she did. She tensed again when she heard the door open and someone enter, once again relaxing as the beeps of the alarm panel could be heard.

_It's just Derek._

She watched as he headed toward the kitchen passing Cameron on the way. She didn't miss the look of disdain he shot at her turned back. He greeted her as he entered and took a seat opposite at the table.

"Morning" he said gruffly.

"Morning" came her reply.

She needed to talk to Derek alone without Cameron overhearing. She made sure Derek was watching before leaning forward slightly and pointedly looking at said cyborg. She looked back and Derek and watched him mouth 'what' and scrunch his face up in confusion. She tilted her head toward the back door and got up from the table. Derek took the hint and followed.

When they were outside Sarah shut the door behind them and Derek turned to face her.

"What is this about?"

"I need to talk to you and I didn't want Cameron overhearing"

She could see the hatred oozing out of him at the mention of her name.

"So talk"

"I need you to do me a favour. I need you to take John somewhere and do something with him"

"What? Why?" Derek asked in obvious confusion.

"Because...I think he's been getting too close to Cameron these past few days"

"Finally figured that out huh?

She shot him a barely tolerant look.

"I don't care what you think. Just take him somewhere"

"Where?"

"I don't know, anywhere, bowling, golfing, take him to a strip club for all I care. Just do something to take his mind off of her"

Derek considered the possibilities of getting some guy time with his nephew before responding.

"Alright fine. So what are you and the metal bitch gonna do, bake cupcakes and have a tea party with her dollies?"

She gritted her teeth and responded in a polite manner because after all, he was doing her a favour.

"I'm gonna talk to her. See if I can't get inside that metal head of hers for a change, see what's going on in that chip"

"Rather you than me"

With that he turned and headed in to the house, Sarah in tow behind him.

* * *

John awoke having not really slept. He moved to stretch and immediately regretted yawning at the same time. The red swollen skin on his cheek stretched and he had to stop himself from crying out in pain.

_Well I can't say I didn't deserve it._

He groggily got out of bed and headed in to the bathroom. He looked in the mirror at his bright red cheek, gently prodding it with his finger.

_How the hell am I gonna explain this one?_

Despite the fact it was Cameron who caused his pain he still felt the need to protect her from his mother and uncle. Who knows what they would do to her if they found out she was the one who hurt him.

_She was just upset and rightfully so. You were a complete jackass calling her 'a damn machine'. Dammit John, you have to ruin everything don't you._

He decided on a cold shower to try and reduce the some of the swelling and redness in his cheek.

After wincing through an ice cold shower for five minutes he got out, dried himself off and went back to his room to get dressed.

When he reached the bottom of the stairs he caught sight of her and stopped in his tracks. She was standing and staring out of the front window, ensuring his safety, as always. He took a deep breath and descended the last few steps and shuffled over to take up a place behind her. Surprisingly she spoke first.

"The perimeter is secure. No threats detected" she stated in a very mechanical tone.

_Ouch, she is really pissed with me._

"I...I'm sorry"

Nothing. Not even a hint of a response from her.

"I'm sorry for what I said to you last night"

Nothing.

"I'm sorry for calling you a...damn machine"

Nothing.

John's guilt grew every time he received no response from her. He watched her stand there like a statue ignoring him and it killed him to see her so upset with him. He attempted to reach out to turn her around to face him. He placed a hand on her shoulder, but before he could even attempt to turn her she shrugged his hand off and continued to stare. John was about to speak again when his Uncle beat him to it.

"Hey John"

He turned to see his uncle coming in from the back door with his mother behind him.

He replied in a sharper tone than intended.

"What?"

Derek was slightly taken aback by his harsh tone.

_I'd better get some beer out of doing this for you Sarah._

"Come on, we're going out"

"What? Where?"

Confusion evident on his face and in his tone.

"Doesn't matter, just out for some guy time"

As Derek moved closer to his nephew he caught sight of his reddened and slightly swollen cheek.

"What happened to your cheek?"

Upon hearing this Sarah came charging up beside him to look at her son.

"John, what happened?" concern and anger laced in her tone.

"I, uh..."

John had always had a marvellous ability to think on his feet. However Cameron's ignoring of him a few moments ago had thrown him off his stride. He looked at her again for some signs of her stepping in with an excuse but saw none. Turning back to his family he answered.

"I leaned out of bed to put something on the nightstand and my elbow slipped out from under me. My cheek came smacking down on the wood"

He held his breath for the inevitable response. Instead of hearing one, his mother simply reached out and gently caressed his cheek as only a mother can.

"I'll get you some ice. You can use it while you're driving to...wherever it is Derek's taking you"

John exhaled and smiled at his mother, causing him to wince slightly.

"Thanks mom"

She gave him a look he couldn't quite decipher and headed off to the kitchen, no doubt to the freezer. He looked at Derek again.

"So where are we going?"

"I dunno, let's just drive around and see what catches our eye"

"Sounds good"

He spared a last glance at Cameron before following his mother to the kitchen. In truth he didn't want to be away from her, but refusing to go would cause too much suspicion. That coupled with her cold behaviour towards him had made him want to spend at least a little time away from her to let her think.

_And hopefully forgive me._

_

* * *

_

Cameron watched John and Derek back out of the driveway in the truck with several emotions running through her. The first was anxiety at the thought of being unable to protect John.

_Derek Reese is one of his most skilled soldiers. He will protect John._

That thought did little to ease her current emotional state. The second thing she felt was a great sense of loss and longing. Although John had said some nasty things to her, he was still her best friend and she missed his companionship greatly.

As the truck backed out with Derek driving, Cameron's eyes met with John's for a brief moment. She quickly averted her gaze, not before noticing the look of profound sadness on his face as he clutched Sarah's homemade ice pack to his cheek. Speaking of Sarah, Cameron detected her move up behind her left shoulder and join her in watching the truck disappear from sight.

As Sarah watched the truck leave she could have swore she heard a faint sigh of sadness emanate from Cameron. She shrugged it off and tagged it as her imagination playing tricks before addressing the beautiful cyborg.

"So, the boys are away, what should us girls do?"

Sarah was not so slightly disgusted at herself for the decidedly chipper tone she'd just addressed Cameron with. She must have been surprised too as she turned to stare at her with a quizzical look on her face.

"Us girls?"

"Yeah, us girls. They have gone for some guy time, so how about some girl time?"

Cameron performed some complex calculations in her CPU of how her effectiveness in projecting John would be affected by leaving for some 'girl time' as Sarah had put it.

_Maybe it will take my mind off John. I may be able to gain some insight in to Sarah's psyche. It will also give me time to analyse the state of her health._

Cameron felt a certain sense of guilt at knowing something about Sarah that she herself didn't know yet. She had lost eleven percent of her mass in the last six weeks. As she debated whether or not to tell John or Sarah about this development, she noticed Sarah still waiting for an answer.

"What is 'girl time'?"

Sarah simply smiled at the naive young cyborg and grabbed the keys to the jeep from the living room table.

_Hey, I might even enjoy this a little._

* * *

John and Derek had been driving around for the better part of thirty minutes in total silence. The tension was killing Derek.

"So are you gonna talk to me on this little trip? This is supposed to be fun you know"

John let out a light chuckle.

"Yeah, you could have fooled me"

Both men smiled for a moment, the tension clearly broken between the two.

"So you have any ideas what we are gonna do today" John looked over to his uncle after he spoke "After all you did drag me out here with you"

A storefront caught Derek's eye and he manoeuvred the truck towards it.

"I do now"

* * *

"Go long John" Derek yelled.

John complied and took off running away from his uncle. Looking back he saw Derek heave the football his way and over his head. John kept his eye on it all the way, leaping at the last moment to make a spectacular diving catch right in front of an elderly couple sitting on the bench a few feet ahead of him. They gave him a generous applause as he stood. He performed a mock bow before turning and trotting back towards his uncle. He tossed the ball back to Derek when he was at a more sensible range and stood waiting for a return pass that never came. Instead Derek waved his nephew over as he made to sit on a nearby bench. When John arrived both he and Derek were breathing heavily and sweating profusely.

"Hey...look over there...you want some...ice cream?" Derek managed to ask in between breaths.

"Yeah...sure"

The two made their way over to the stall still breathing heavily. They waited for their ice cream cones, both ordering the biggest available. Derek paid the portly guy who served them with an almost childlike grin on his face as he watched John wrestle with his clearly overloaded cone. His smugness was short lived however as he found himself unable to handle his own rapidly melting, huge glob of sticky ice cream. The two made their way over to the bench they had just been at and sat down.

No words were spoken between the two as they both set about tackling their treats down to manageable proportions. When they were both down to just the cone, Derek spoke.

"So..."

He hesitated when John looked up at him before continuing.

"...your mother has noticed you have been a little chummier with the machine lately"

John almost chocked on his wafer when he heard this.

_Always right to the point huh Derek?_

"Derek listen, today has been a real good day..."

_Better than yesterday at any rate._

"...don't spoil it by dragging up _Cameron"_ he made sure to put extra emphasis on her name as he spoke.

Derek however didn't fail to notice the term 'dragging up'.

_Here's my chance._

"Oh, so everything isn't rosy between you and..."

John shot him a look that dared him to call her a machine again.

"...her?" Derek wasn't stupid.

John looked down at his nearly finished ice cream cone and briefly wondered what she was doing while he was gone.

* * *

"Sarah, this is not healthy"

"Yes Cameron, that's the point. If it was healthy it wouldn't taste so damn good"

Cameron looked down at her barely touched bowl of chocolate ice cream and over to Sarah's half empty one.

They were seated in an outdoor cafe/restaurant and had ordered, at Sarah's insistence, two bowls of well presented and ridiculously overpriced ice cream.

"I have a limited sense of taste. My systems point out to me that there is a significantly high amount of unhealthy ingredients in this dish..."

She raised her eyes to meet Sarah's

"...however I do seem to have developed a liking for many forms of chocolate"

Sarah smiled at her companion and watched as she tucked in to her sugary treat with a gusto she'd never seen before.

_I wonder where it all goes...actually no, I don't wanna know._

"John says I have a sweet tooth. That is an incorrect assessment, my teeth are made of a coltan alloy"

Sarah couldn't help but smile at her naiveté and apparent misunderstanding. Sarah carried on with her mission regardless of how sickeningly cute it made her seem.

"So..."

Sarah steeled herself as Cameron looked at her with those big brown eyes.

"...I noticed you and John have gotten...closer, lately"

If cyborgs could get nervous, Sarah was sure she just witnessed Cameron tense up in response to her very pointed question. The feeling vanished as Cameron didn't respond immediately.

Sarah started to squirm as Cameron stared at her with her 'scary robot' mask now firmly back in place.

"Yes"

Sarah pushed the sudden urge to tear her pretty face off her skull down deep for the moment and continued her quest for information.

"Care to elaborate on that?"

"No"

With that Cameron resumed eating, assuming the conversation was over. Sarah however had other ideas.

_Calm down Sarah, time to try a different tactic._

She pushed all feelings of disgust she was experiencing down alongside the anger and slowly reached out to lay her hand upon Cameron's free one.

Cameron disregarded the order her systems displayed to remove Sarah's arm from its adjoining shoulder socket, instead choosing to look at their touching hands with great interest.

* * *

"My relationship with Cameron is none of your business" John said through gritted teeth.

Derek couldn't keep the disgust off his face.

"Oh, so there's a 'relationship' now?" his voice rising slightly.

John realised how his previous words sounded and quickly moved to cover up his slip.

"No, I uh, meant that in the way I would describe my relationship with you or my mom"

Derek didn't believe him for a second.

"You're way too close to that thing. It's blinding you. Just because it looks pretty as a picture on the outside, just remember it's a damn scary robot underneath"

_Today was going so well_. John thought to himself.

John felt the overwhelming urge to explode on his uncle and rant about the same things he ranted to Cameron about the night before. As he opened his mouth to shout he felt his sore cheek tighten up, a painful reminder of the consequences of not thinking before you speak. He took a deep breath to reign in his emotions before speaking in a calm and steady voice.

"I'm fully aware of what she is. I've had her chip in my hands twice. I've seen her survive a car bomb. I've seen and touched her endoskeleton and you know what?"

He paused to gauge Derek's reaction for a moment.

"I really don't care, because no matter what she's made of, she is still someone who is very important to me. To all of us"

John realised in that moment just how important she was to him. The sense of loss he felt at the silent treatment he received that morning chewed him up inside. He vowed right then and there to himself that he would never treat her badly again.

_She risks her life to save me all the time, and what does she get from me? I say she's nothing more than an uncaring, unfeeling machine and treat her like dirt just because a pretty blonde walks in to my life and says hello. Well not any more._

John's admission had rendered Derek speechless. He had no scathing retorts to come back with, no smartass remarks and for once no urge to knock the machine's head off its shoulders. He simply stared in shock as John quite casually stood, turned around, placed his trash in the nearby can and started walking towards the truck.

_General John Connor is in love with a fucking machine. Even if he doesn't realise it yet, he's in love. _

Derek stood from the bench and placed his trash in the receptacle just as John had done. He turned to look at John only to see him stepping in to the passenger seat and closing the door, seemingly waiting patiently for his uncle to drive him home. As Derek made his way on autopilot to the truck, one thought continually ran through his head.

_I'm sorry Kyle._

* * *

Sarah spoke in the softest voice Cameron had ever heard escape from her lips.

"Listen, Cameron..."

She tried to sum up the correct words so as not to give away her true intentions to the intuitive cyborg sitting across from her.

"...John is my only son and I've protected him for his whole life. I just need to know he will be safe, whoever he spends his time with..."

Sarah raised her eyes to look at Cameron's slightly shocked looking face.

"...I need to know there's at least one other person that will love him as much as I do"

Sarah continued to fight the urges to rip the machine apart and just watched as she seemed to analyse her kind words. If she could manage to trick her in to saying something along the lines of 'oh yes Sarah I love your son and I always have', then that would be justification enough in Sarah's eyes to blow Cameron's head off and blame it on her malfunctioning.

Cameron thought about Sarah's words. She thought Cameron was in love with John. This thought greatly confused her, but at the same time brought a sort of warmth to her cybernetic body.

_What if I could love John...What if he could love me?_

She analysed the possible scenario's surrounding herself and John and came to the sudden realisation that what she had said when stuck between the trucks was close to the truth, they were her real feelings.

"_I love you John and you love me"_

Some of her thought processes argued that it was simply a self defence ploy at to prevent her imminent destruction. Others argued that they were her true feelings due to her malfunctioning chip and lack of emotional safeguards at the time.

At that moment she decided to analyse all the data pertaining to her and John to try and determine exactly what it was she was feeling. For the moment she chose to settle on a compromise between the two and decided that while she wasn't sure if she was even capable of loving him, she certainly was devoted to him. Devoted enough to try and prevent any potential threats.

Any threats.

"Why are you lying Sarah?"

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked rather nervously.

Cameron tilted her head towards their still touching hands.

Sarah realised her mistake and immediately withdrew her hand, but it was too late. She'd been busted and she knew it.

_Dammit Sarah, how could you make a stupid mistake like that?_

"I knew before you said anything that you were intending to lie to me Sarah. My question is why?"

She looked down at John's mother awaiting a response. Instead Sarah just turned her head away and looked at nothing. Realising she didn't intend to answer, Cameron spoke up.

"Thank you for the ice cream Sarah. I'd like to resume my patrols of our neighbourhood soon Sarah. We must leave now if _I_ am to ensure John's safety"

With that she turned, walked to the jeep and climbed in the passenger seat, waiting patiently for Sarah to follow.

Sarah noticed the way she said 'I' need to ensure John's safety. Sarah felt that all too familiar feeling that she was steadily being replaced by the machine, along with the constant feeling of weakness and light headedness she had been feeling recently. As she walked to the truck, one thought continually ran through her head.

_I'm sorry John._


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi guys!**

**Sorry for the delay, but you know, busy busy! I've actually been working on this on and off for a week now.**

**Thanks to reviewers, kaotic2, acer-sigma, Leetmouse, ElusiveSanity, clearfanfic, TK-MR, The1Russter and mosherguy18.**

**(I will try to explain a few things in the footnotes)**

**

* * *

**

Sarah pounded the bag with an intensity she hadn't been feeling very often lately. It reminded her of her days in Pescadero, when she had nothing to do other than work out in her cell. She poured all of her anger and worry out in to the poor inanimate object. Her little chat with Cameron hadn't gone as planned, and if anything would come of it the result would surely be to push her son even further away. She heard a faint noise over the sound of her own grunting, her training kicked in and she picked up her 9mm from the workbench. She trained it on the door, feeling in the mood to shoot...something today. The door flew open and Derek emerged, his own gun drawn.

"It's just you"

_Well duh_

"Yeah, just me"

Sarah lowered her weapon and examined Derek. He looked tired, stressed and also ready to shoot something, anything if he thought it would help. Apparently she must have looked in a similar mood as Derek spoke.

"So I take it your play date with the metal didn't go well?"

Sarah did her best to glare at Derek despite the thoughts running a million miles an hour through her head. She knew deep down how John felt and already knew the answer to the question she was about to ask. She wanted to and tried to deny it, however her little chat with Cameron had only added fuel to the internal fire. She looked to Derek with a hopeful look on her face.

"No it didn't. Did John say anything?"

...

"We need to do something...fast"

* * *

The drive home had been quiet in Derek and John's truck. Neither man nor boy had said a word to each other since they left the park earlier that day.

The back end of Sarah's jeep greeted them as they pulled in to the driveway of their house. Derek pulled up and parked the truck behind it. He switched off the engine before looking over to John, who looked lost in thought. A moment later he suddenly stepped out of the truck, closing the door behind him completely ignoring Derek as he did.

_You're welcome._

Derek sat and watched his nephew walk up to the house with a sad look on his face.

_What the hell am I going to do about all of this? I'll have to talk to Sarah about it. Maybe she had more luck with the metal than I had with John._

Derek let that idea roll around his head for a moment before deciding that cleaning his weapons cache would take his mind off the subject for a while. He stepped out of the truck and trudged toward the small shed at the other end of the driveway. A few steps before he reached it he heard some indistinguishable noises coming from inside. Ever ready for a conflict he pulled out the 9mm tucked in the back of his pants and carefully edged towards the door, gun raised. The noises stopped. Throwing caution to the wind Derek took a step back and kicked the flimsy door open, raising his gun aiming at the entrance. He scanned the room quickly and immediately lowered his weapon.

"It's just you"

"Yeah, just me"

Derek took a moment to take in her appearance. She was wearing loose fitting sports clothing and was bathed in sweat. He noticed the punch bag gently swaying next to her and put two and two together. Sarah was pissed.

"So I take it your play date with the metal didn't go well?"

Sarah glared at him with a terrifying glint in her eye. Derek was positive he saw the hand still holding her gun twitch a little.

"No it didn't. Did John say anything?

...

"We need to do something...fast"

* * *

_Movement detected, standby......_

_Movement identified, vehicle approaching......_

_Vehicle identified, Derek Reese's Dodge Ram......_

_Vehicle occupants, Derek Reese and John Connor......_

Cameron had been analysing what she was going to do when John returned. She had been standing in his bedroom looking out of his window, her eyes locked on the driveway entrance for the last thirty minutes. The drive home with Sarah had been in total silence, as expected. Cameron suspected she may have upset Sarah by very bluntly calling her out on her lying. The truth was Cameron was upset and slightly angry with Sarah for lying to her in the first place.

_She tried to trick me in to revealing something about my relationship with John. Why would she do that? She doesn't trust me, very few humans do._

Cameron continued to observe as John stepped out of the truck and headed toward the house. Her eyes remained fixed on him as he approached. She barely registered the movement of Derek heading to the shed, or the sound of him kicking the door open. Her attention was solely on John.

* * *

John approached the house with a renewed sense of confidence and self belief, although he was still in a slight state of shock that he had basically admitted to his uncle things that he hadn't even admitted to himself yet.

John reached his bedroom door. He hadn't even realised he'd entered the house, much less climbed the stairs, such were his thoughts of Cameron.

* * *

John lay on his bed facing the ceiling with his hands laced behind his head. He had spent the last hour or so just contemplating just what the hell had gone on recently.

He had always known Cameron was important to him, even in the early days when she was not much more than a machine protector. Even then John knew she was different. No other Terminator, even uncle Bob, would inquire as to whether or not they had a birthday. No other Terminator would get his cereal, bowl and milk out for him in the morning. He had explained things to her, and her trademark 'Thank you for explaining' had settled in to a quiet corner of his heart as one of his favourite things about her.

But then with the turn of a key everything changed. She tried to kill him. She reverted to her Skynet programming and hunted him.

It wasn't so much the killing him part that hurt him. It was the confession of her love for him when she was trapped between the trucks. Up until that day John had never known a Terminator could cry, scream and beg for her life. Her admission had confused and tortured him so much that he consciously started pushing her away. John coped by throwing himself headlong in to an ultimately doomed relationship with Riley, a relationship he never truly felt meant anything to him. All his time with Riley was spent thinking about Cameron, trying to sort out how he truly felt about her. There were several occasions he had to remind himself that 'she', was really an 'it', especially during the 'Allison' incident. He had witnessed the look of joy and happiness on her face at doing something as simple as playing foosball. He was overjoyed at seeing Cameron so happy, but that all came crashing down as he realised it wasn't Cameron who was happy, it was Allison.

Whatever mental fragilities she now had developed, she was still his best friend. She had saved his life more times than he cared to remember, and now more than ever she needed someone to be her best friend, whether she knew it or not.

He picked himself up off his bed and marched out of his room with a purpose.

_Find her and make it up to her._

He took a few short steps down the corridor and knocked on her door. When he didn't receive a reply he slowly turned the knob and entered.

Empty.

_Huh, where is she?_

Thinking she must be on patrol or sentry duty he made his way down the stairs to the living room, expecting to see her standing in front of the window staring at nothing and everything.

_Nope, guess again Johnny boy._

Why did his own mind have to seemingly taunt him so much?

John shucked off the self depreciating thought and decided to try the kitchen, maybe she was watching the rear of the house. As he entered he didn't see Cameron, instead he saw his mom sitting at the table sipping on what he assumed was coffee, the telltale scent invading his nostrils. Her hair was damp and she looked freshly showered.

_She must have been working out earlier, she's pissed about something._

"Mom"

"Son" she smirked at the simple greeting exchange and took another sip.

"Uh, yeah, hi. Have you seen Cameron?"

Oh how Sarah wasn't expecting _that _one. Yeah right. She decided to answer with the truth, knowing full well he'd find her eventually anyway.

"I saw her about a half hour ago outside. Probably doing a patrol, you know...her job"

John shot her a look that said in no uncertain terms that he was tired of hearing crap like that from her. They had already had this discussion, and he was pretty sure she had asked Derek to take him for his 'guy time', just to separate him from Cameron for a while.

"Thanks" he managed to force out through gritted teeth on his way out of the back door.

Sarah sighed as she yet again found herself watching John walk away from her and straight to the arms of the machine.

* * *

John made his way around the full perimeter of the house, even stopping to check in the shed.

_Maybe she has some repairs to do._

Nope, not in there either. By this point John was starting to panic slightly. Several thoughts started running through his mind.

_Where is she? What if she's gone? What if she got sick of all this crap and left me? What if..._

John took a moment to breathe deeply in an attempt to calm himself down. He knew she wouldn't just up sticks and leave. He was pretty sure she was still being governed by her mission to protect him. If she had been doing a patrol then maybe he had just missed her somewhere.

He headed back in to the house through the front door and straight up the stairs. As he passed Cameron's room he noticed the door was wide open.

_I'm pretty sure I closed that._

Curiosity got the better of him and he entered to investigate. He looked around the increasingly familiar bedroom and saw no signs of anyone being in the room until the bathroom door opened and Cameron walked out. She regarded him with a tilted head before turning to close the door behind her.

"Is the future leader of mankind excluded from the requirement to knock before entering someone's bedroom?"

_Wait, was that a joke?_

Her blank face told him it was not, but he saw the slightest glint of humour in her eyes and decided to play along.

"I dunno, I guess it depends on whose bedroom I am entering. My mothers, yes, my 'sisters' no. Cos that's not what 'brothers' do"

The merest hint of a smile graced her lips as she moved to sit on the edge of her bed.

_Yesssss, one nil to Connor._

She looked up at him with a pretty smile that made his heart melt. He must have stood staring for quite a while when she was forced to ask...

"Is there something you need?"

The question brought him out of his daze and he blushed slightly, realising what he had been doing.

"Erm, yeah, there are some things I need to tell you. Why were you in the bathroom by the way?"

She didn't answer, but instead turned her head to show John her now healed cheek.

"I was removing my bandages"

John subconsciously moved closer to her and sat on the bed next to her. He reached a hand up and gently brushed her cheek, feeling for any signs of the injury inflicted by the triple eight.

"Wow, it's just as perfect as before"

"Thank you"

John realised he was still caressing her cheek and withdrew his hand sheepishly, blushing slightly as he did.

"What did you want to tell me?"

John knew exactly what he wanted to tell her. But he couldn't quite find the words needed to relay to her just how much he meant them. He looked at her beautiful face and felt his strength and resolve grow.

"Cameron..."

He reached out and took her hand in his own, resting it in her lap. She looked down at their joined hands for a moment before giving his hand a subtle squeeze as an indication to continue. She returned her eyes to his.

"...I want to apologise to you...for everything"

"John..."

He held up his free hand in a stop gesture.

"Please let me finish, this is important"

She nodded her assent.

"I want to apologise for the constant stream of crap you have to put up with around here. My mom and Derek treat you as nothing more than a tool to be used and discarded...and I haven't been treating you much better..."

She looked like she was about to respond, but remembering his request for silence, she continued to listen.

"...Let's start from the beginning. I'm sorry for blaming you for Jordan's suicide. You stopped me from trying to help her for my own safety, I should have been thanking you for protecting me, instead of blaming you for her death"

He paused for a moment to gauge her reaction. Seeing that her eyes continued to look deeply in to his own, he continued, sure in the knowledge he was doing the right thing.

"I'm sorry that I started ignoring you and pushing you away after my birthday. I shouldn't have blamed you, Cameron, for what happened that day. Because it wasn't you, Cameron, that tried to kill me, it was Skynet. That wasn't you, this..."

He lifted her hand up slightly to show her what he meant.

"...is the real you"

John took a deep steadying breath before continuing.

"And I'm sorry about Riley. I'm sorry I took so many stupid risks with her, like running away to Mexico. I'm sorry that for a while I thought you killed her..."

A single tear lined his left eye and threatened to spill.

"...I'm sorry for last night, for calling you just a damn machine. I know that you are more than that and I shouldn't have spoken to you like that, like mom or Derek would do"

His eyes could no longer contain the tear as it ran down his cheek.

"I'm so sorry Cameron. Can you forgive me?"

Cameron had been automatically scanning him during the exchange. She detected no traces of insincerity in her biomarker scans. He truly was sorry for the way he had treated her, and that was enough for her.

"Yes John I can. But only if you forgive me"

John looked at her with a mixture of relief and happiness before finally settling on confusion.

"Forgive you, for what?"

She reached her spare hand up to his cheek and ran the back of her index finger over his bruising cheek, much like he had done to her a few minutes ago, causing John to wince slightly.

"I'm sorry for hitting you..."

"Cameron..."

She held up her hand in a stop gesture.

"Please let me finish, this is important"

Realising she'd repeated his words to him, he promptly shut his mouth and listened very carefully.

"I shouldn't have hit you, I could have seriously injured you. I am dangerous John. I cannot control my emotions...

As he looked about ready to reply she started speaking again, this time with a noticeable shaking of her voice.

"...I need to explain why I lashed out like that so that you can hopefully forgive me..."

She looked to him for approval to continue. She received it in the form of an open mouthed nod from John.

"...John, you are the only one who treats me as more than just a machine, you treat me like a real person. In my whole existence, you have been the kindest person I've ever known. When you called me 'just a damn machine' it really hurt me, it caused me to feel anger for the first time. I know I am a machine, but as I have recently begun to develop beyond that I thought you of all people would respect the fact that I am now more. I felt a sudden irrational anger and struck out. I am sorry that my emotions have harmed you..."

John stood from the bed and turned away from her, pulling his hand from hers. She looked devastated at the loss of contact and his apparent displeasure with her. She fumbled about in her database for the right words to correct the sudden change.

"...John, please, I, I, I'll find a way to stop them, I, I'll turn them off, I'll protect you from far away, yes, I can do that, John please"

He heard the pleading in her voice and couldn't take it anymore. The reason he had turned away was because he didn't want her to see the tears in his eyes, he didn't want her to see him weak. He turned back to face her and kneeled on the floor in front of her. He reached up both his hands to cup her now tear stained cheeks.

"Don't you ever apologise for something that other people caused"

Her CPU did it's best to make her head tilt in confusion but John's hands prevented it from doing so. He felt the movement and broke out in a sudden small smile.

"Sorry, that was confusing wasn't it?"

She did her best to nod in his hands. John thought she looked adorable with her face squashing up slightly.

"What I meant was you can't blame yourself because I caused you to feel angry. Hell, if I punched someone because they pissed me off, I'd blame them not me. My point is that I made you feel angry, you should be blaming me. Quite frankly I deserved it. I made you feel those emotions by saying something stupid, so it's my fault. You only did what any other person would do. I'm sorry"

John saw her eyes moving around rapidly, a telltale sign of that she was analysing his words. Suddenly her eyes focused back on his.

"So...you...forgive me?" she said tentatively.

John let out a small chuckle.

"Of course I do Cameron"

She reached up and grasped his hands that were still on her face. She brought them down to her lap and leaned forward. She placed a tear soaked and very gentle kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you"

John's brain did what all other sixteen year old brains do when the body it's attached to is kissed by a pretty girl, it froze.

"Um, erm, you're, uh, welcome"

She giggled a little bringing John back to reality.

_When did she learn to giggle like that, it sounds so genuine._

"John"

"Hmm, yes?"

"I need to enter standby for a while. This anger is not pleasant, but I am risking damage to my neural network by not shutting down to analyse it soon"

"Uh, okay, we'll talk more when you wake up"

Cameron reached down and gracefully slipped out of her boots. John meanwhile had retrieved a blanket from the dresser and brought it back to her. She lay down on her side as John laid the blanket on top of her, pulling it up to her chin.

_She doesn't need the warmth but what the hell, it just feels like something I should do._

"Thank you John" she said with her eyes closed.

"You're welcome Cameron" John surprised himself by returning the favour of a kiss on the cheek.

She smiled as he pulled back, happy in the knowledge that she had patched up their relationship. However she knew she had to do something when she 'woke up', and she was not sure how John would react.

* * *

John headed downstairs for a bite to eat. He ran in to Sarah on the way.

"Hi mom"

"Hey. Did you find her?"

"Uh, yeah. She was patrolling, we kinda missed each other along the way"

"Uh huh, listen. She told me about the Terminator that attacked her..."

_When did mom and Cameron talk?_

Realisation dawned on him that they must have done something while he was out with Derek. Something must have been said to cause Cameron's demeanour towards him to change upon his return.

"...she said it had a logo on its pocket. She described it and I recognised it"

"What is it?"

Sarah seemed to hesitate, deciding on whether or not to tell him. But she knew she'd need his help with this one.

"It's the same logo that 'Desert Canyon Heat and Air' used, but it looked like he worked for some other division of a bigger company"

John considered her words for a moment.

"Kaliba" it was more of a statement than a question.

"Probably. I need you to get on the computer and see if you can find out where some of their offices are located. We need to find out what they are up to"

"Yeah okay. I'll do it when Cameron wakes up"

"Wakes up?" Sarah asked with a look of sudden irritation on her face.

"Uh, yeah, long story"

With that he slipped past his mother and in to the kitchen to raid the fridge.

_Derek was right._

_

* * *

_

John took his freshly made sandwich back up to Cameron's room to eat.

_Aah turkey. You may hide from me a lot but damn you taste good._

He perched himself on the chair near the bed with the plate on his lap. He had made a couple of bites in to it when he noticed Cameron's eyes flutter open.

"Hey"

He gestured to the sandwich in his hands.

"Want some of this?"

And there it was, the perfect opportunity for her to drill home her point.

"No thank you John, I'm not hungry"

She sat up and folded the blanket neatly, placing it at the foot of the bed. She looked at his face before deciding on the machine equivalent of 'fuck it'.

"You need to understand how it works"

"What?" John asked in confusion, swallowing the contents of his mouth.

"This chip...this body. The software is designed to terminate humans. The hardware is designed to terminate humans. That's our sole function"

"Not you" John stated in a disbelieving tone.

"No. Not anymore. But what was there is still there. It'll always be there"

There was a slight hint of warning in her tone, hoping to convince him of how dangerous she can be.

John nodded before replying, seeming to catch the point.

"So down deep, you wanna kill me"

"Yes, I do"

A John Connor who hadn't spent the last few days helping a cyborg understand her emotions might have bolted from the room at that point. But not this John Connor. This John Connor merely sat up and asked a very pertinent question.

"Then why don't you?"

"I might someday"

There, it was now out in the open between them. She hoped that John would realise what point she was trying to make. She decided he needed further convincing, further evidence to show what she truly meant.

"I need to show you something"

With that she stood from the bed and looked at him.

"This body"

She stripped off her top in one swift motion, surprising John to say the least. She revealed her black satin bra and smooth, tanned and toned skin. She sat back down on the bed with her left leg tucked beneath her. John merely stared, utterly confused and quite obviously turned on by what she was doing. She reached around her back and unhooked her bra, simply allowing it to fall before she lay down on her back, her head nestling in the pillow. She looked over to him, still sitting on the chair.

"Get on top of me"

John closed his mouth and placed his sandwich back on the plate. He stood from his perch with slightly shaky knees and placed his plate on the dresser. As he moved to the bed she gave him instructions.

"Put your knee here" she directed him to where she wanted him and he willingly complied, still not sure what she was up to.

She pulled a switchblade knife out of her jeans pocket and handed it to him, their hands brushing as she did.

"Right here"

She trailed her finger down in between her breasts where she wanted him to cut. He seemed to hesitate, not wanting to make a mark on her perfect body.

"Please John, I need you to see this"

Hearing this hardened his resolve and he cut exactly as instructed, trying to concentrate on the knife and not her bare breasts. If he had looked at her face he would have seen the look of discomfort flash across her features.

"Reach down, under the breastplate"

She seemed almost pensive as she said this, realising she was taking an incredible risk in doing this. She had never been this exposed to harm in her short existence, and it scared her.

John did as instructed and reached under her armour. He had never been this close to anybody before, and it scared him.

"There"

His hand found something.

"What does it feel like?"

John directed his gaze back to her eyes.

"Cold..."

His hand moved around the object, trying to ascertain what it was.

"...what is it?"

"It is my power source, a shielded nuclear reactor. And yes you are right, it is cold"

John's eyes searched hers for an answer to what all of this was about. She provided him with one.

"John, I do not have a heart. I am powered by a reactor, my bones are made of coltan and my brain is a computer chip. I am a machine John. I am dangerous. I needed you to fully realise this before you do anything you might regret. The more emotions I experience and the more I analyse them, the more I have come to realise just how dangerous I am to you"

She looked deeply in to his eyes while he considered her words. His hand still hadn't left her chest or her power source, she still felt vulnerable while awaiting his response.

_She told me she is dangerous. She made me put my hand on her power source, her very life. She is giving me the opportunity to kill her here and now, just yank it out and poof, she's dead._

Cameron's stare never left his eyes. His face was now only a couple of inches away from hers. He looked up to meet her gaze and did the exact opposite of what she expected. He leaned closer and kissed her. Softly, gently and tenderly he kissed her. Her processes froze, unable to comprehend what was happening. She felt his hand on her power source, still fully expecting him to pull it at any second.

_Might as well enjoy it before he terminates me._

She kissed back for all she was worth, her lips moving against his forcefully. The surge in emotional data caused a spike in her reactor and John felt it. He felt a sudden jolt through his right hand and realised what was happening, he was lost in the moment. Just as suddenly as he kissed her he pulled back, quickly withdrawing his hand from her chest cavity.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that"

He stood from the bed, and turned to walk out of the door, not sparing a backwards glance.

She heard him pounding down the stairs. She heard the front door closing. She heard the doors to the truck open and close. She heard the engine start. She heard the tyres crunching on the gravel until they were out of her audible range. She should have followed him, protected him, it was after all her mission to keep him safe. Instead of doing that she brought her hand up to touch her just kissed lips. She caresses them softly, trying to replicate the feeling she had just experienced. She sat back and brought her other hand up to her chest, running her fingers along the incision John had made.

_What has just happened?_

_

* * *

_

**Yes, I'm going to tease you with semi Jameron for a little while longer!**

**1.) Cereal, milk and bowl - Check out The Turk, the eyeliner scene. John goes to get his bowl but it's already out for him. Only noticed that one on my last rewatch.**

**2.) I wrote the Mr. Ferguson style opening when I wasn't really in a writing mood. I don't feel it's up to my usual standards but I thought a rewrite would turn out similarly anyway.**

**3.) I know that writing the Born to Run scene is a little bit of a cop out, but I tried to change it to keep it relevant to the story. I hope you don't mind :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi guys,**

**Thanks to reviewers, acer-sigma, TK-MR, kaotic2, Amaterasu-Black Flame, fullhans1, The1Russter, CloudyShadows and jojobevco.**

**(More in the footnotes)**

**

* * *

**

John closed the door behind him very quietly. Or rather, he thought he did.

"Sssshhhhh" he held his index finger up to his lips, gesturing at the ludicrously noisy door.

He turned and bumped in to the inconveniently placed table near the door, cursing under his breath.

"Who in the name of...hic...put that there?" he said to no one in particular.

He managed to stumble in to the kitchen, feeling a sudden urge to eat anything as long as it was even remotely made of animal.

_Mmmmmmm, hot dogs._

He hunted around in the fridge for a moment before finding the magical packet he was searching for. He pulled it out, all the while thanking the guy who invented the microwave oven.

"Genius, sheer...hic...genius"

He brought his treasure over to the counter and proceeded to try to rip the packet open. He failed miserably.

"Who in the name of...hic...thought it was a good...hic...idea to put these in plastic god damn...hic...wrap?"

He opened the cutlery drawer, fumbling in amongst the spoons, forks and guns before he acquired his target, a big damn knife!

"You should not be handling sharp objects while in your current inebriated state"

He whirled around so fast at the sudden voice that he almost fell flat on his back, only his hand on the counter prevented it.

"Dondoothat"

She tilted her head as her CPU processed the possible meanings of what he had just said to her.

"I don't understand"

"I said...hic...don, doo, that"

"Thank you for explaining"

He turned back to the counter and started slashing and stabbing at the increasingly annoying plastic packet. After a couple of seconds he felt the knife being snatched from his grasp.

"Hey"

"Sit down John"

"Dontchoo tell mee whaddadoo"

"Sit down. I will make your sandwich for you"

John did his best to look at her sceptically for a moment. He was greeted by a slight smile, a smile which would placate him no matter his state of mind. He moved over to the kitchen table and sat down facing her, silently watching as she worked on his sandwich. He felt exhaustion creeping over him and laid his head down on his crossed arms for just a moment.

Cameron knew from her brief scan while removing the knife from his grasp that sleep would overcome him soon. She made it look as if she was making him a sandwich when in actuality she was consciously keeping her back turned to him. She wasn't exactly 'flaunting it' as she had heard some girls say back in high school, but she had noticed that he had taken a liking to looking at her butt when she wore her new pyjama bottoms.

_Having something to concentrate on will make him fall asleep faster._

Sure enough she heard a faint snore emanating from the vicinity of the table soon after he sat down. She turned and looked over at him thoughtfully for a moment. While she was immensely relieved that he was home safe, she felt what she assumed was guilt for not following and protecting him. She did not like this feeling, not one little bit.

With stealth only terminators are capable of she moved to the table. She stood for a moment, analysing the optimal method of moving John Connor without waking him. She gently slid one of her arms under his extended and crossed arms, using them to lever his head and neck back to her other waiting arm. His head gently lolled back and she caught it gracefully. From then on it was simply a matter of getting her other arm under his legs and effortlessly lifting him off the chair. Once he was secure she made her way up the stairs, trying not to disturb her charge. She entered his bedroom and laid his sleeping form down on his bed, John stirring slightly as she did. He grasped her hand when she was trying to remove it, tugging it down underneath his head and letting it take the strain off his neck. He shuffled about for a second before finding a comfortable spot and drifting back off in to a deep sleep.

She stood hunched over his bed with her hand trapped under his head. He looked so peaceful while sleeping that she didn't really want to risk disturbing him by moving.

_If Sarah Connor finds you like this she will 'freak out'._

She smiled to herself for her use of a colloquial term. John stirred slightly and she seized the opportunity, pulling her hand free before he settled again. She left his room silently, returning a moment later with the blanket that he had covered her with earlier. She laid it over him and pulled it up to his chin, repeating his earlier actions. She then did what she felt was normal and bent down to place a soft kiss on his cheek.

"Good night John"

She lingered there for a moment longer before turning and leaving his room. She descended the stairs and took up her usual nightly position staring out of the living room window.

* * *

John awoke with the feeling that his head was about to explode. His tongue felt like sandpaper and he felt sick to his stomach.

_Ugh, I am never drinking again._

He opened his eyes and immediately regretted it. He mustered up enough strength to stick his middle finger up at the window. _Damn sun. _He pulled the blanket up over his head with the intent of getting back to sleep. He took a deep breath through his nose and picked up the faint scent of strawberries.

_What the hell?_

He moved his head around a little and took a closer sniff of the blanket.

_Yup, definitely strawberries. _Sniff. _Wait, where did this blanket come from anyway?_

He risked opening his eyes again to inspect the blanket, careful to keep them away from the sun. He recognised the blanket as the one he laid over Cameron yesterday. He also recognised the smell.

_It's her shampoo, I'd recognise it anywhere._

He took another deep lungful of air, inhaling her scent once again. He was enjoying it immensely until the memories of why he had gotten himself so drunk came flooding back to him. He had kissed her.

_Ugh, John you jackass, what did you kiss her for?_

With an annoyed grunt he rolled over and found himself in his bed fully clothed. _Wow, even drunk I'm a true legend with awesome homing abilities._

SLAM

"Wakey wakey John. We've got a busy day, lots to do"

Sarah was greeted with an annoyed growl and the sight of her son pulling the blanket over his head.

"Come on, up. You can't spend all day in bed"

"Urgh, why not? What is so important that I can't sleep in?"

"A Skynet hunt of course"

"Skynet'll still be there when I sober up mom"

She casually strolled over to his bed, grabbed the corner of his blanket and pulled, hard.

"Mom, what the hell?"

"So that's why you're in such a foul mood, you were drinking? That means you went out. John you can't be so stupid. Was...Cameron...with you?"

Not wanting to admit that she was the reason he got drunk in the first place he fought to come up with a believable lie in his current mental state.

"No. I snuck out okay"

"Idiot"

She smacked his ass as hard as she could.

"Don't do it again"

John strained himself to look at her. The two shared a brief smile.

"Yeah okay, sorry mom"

"I understand, everyone needs to get away sometimes. Just make sure you're safe. I know Cromartie isn't out there anymore, but that doesn't mean there aren't still threats to you. Understand?"

_Wow, she is in a good mood. Normally she would have spent an hour tearing me a new one about how stupid and reckless I've been._

"Yeah, thanks. So what is this Skynet hunt you were talking about?"

By this point John had struggled to pull himself up to sit with his back to the headboard. He looked and felt like crap, but going on the offensive for a change sounded like a great idea.

"We know where a Kaliba building is located, we're going to go scout it out"

"How'd you manage to find it?"

Sarah seemed to hesitate for a moment.

"Cameron found it. She used your computer to search for the logo she found. It gave her a list of possible locations"

John looked over to his desk and noticed for the first time that his laptop was gone.

"I said I'd do that" he looked at his mother quizzically.

"Yeah well, she doesn't sleep"

John felt himself smiling upon hearing another one of her more common phrases, something Sarah didn't fail to notice.

"Come on get up. I'll make you lunch"

"Don't you mean breakfast?"

Sarah pointed to his bedside alarm clock and gave him a look that told him he was being a total idiot.

"No. I mean lunch. It's past twelve"

John looked at his alarm clock.

_Wow, what time did I roll in last night?_

* * *

"You're putting too much mustard on"

Sarah had been listening to Cameron standing over her shoulder and criticising her hotdog making technique for close to five minutes and was close to snapping.

"You should..."

"ENOUGH..."

She picked up the plate with the sandwich she had prepared and dumped it in the bin. She put the plate back on the counter. She picked up the half empty hot dog packet and a couple of spare buns and placed them in Cameron's hands.

"...you make them"

With that she left the room, bumping in to a dishevelled looking John on the way. She muttered something under her breath about machines and continued on her not very merry way.

John entered the kitchen slightly amused and curious to see what had pissed off his mother so much. He saw Cameron standing with hot dogs in one hand and two buns in the other.

"Wow, déjà vu"

She tilted her head and looked at him confused for a moment.

"Um, never mind. What did you say to my mom?"

"I merely pointed out the optimal method of making hot dogs to her. It seems that my advice was unwelcome"

John smirked at her before seating himself on the stool near the kitchen counter. He rested his chin on his hands and closed his eyes. He felt sleep creeping over him again when he was startled by a glass making contact with the counter. He opened his eyes to see Cameron's hand around said glass slowly sliding it towards him.

"You should drink this. It will replenish your electrolytes...and make you feel better"

He looked at her completely innocent expression and felt a wave of embarrassment sweep over him for some reason.

"Um, thanks"

He took the offered glass of water as she turned back to work on his food. He downed the glass in one and felt himself perk up slightly. He watched her very methodically fix his sandwich. Every movement was so precise, from slicing a bun open to applying just the correct pressure to the ketchup bottle to ensure a smooth flow. He marvelled at her motions, efficient and graceful. Movements that are inherently opposite, but she somehow managed to accomplish both. She turned around, placing in front of him a perfectly presented plate with two delicious looking hot dogs in buns on it. Both with just the right amount of mustard and ketchup that he liked.

_How in the hell did she know how I like them?_

John imagined there wasn't a great abundance of hot dogs and buns in the future.

"Um, thanks...again"

"You're welcome" she sat down on the stool opposite him on the other side of the counter.

She sat in silence watching him eat with what appeared to be a ravenous appetite.

"John?"

"Mmm?" he managed to get out with a mouthful of processed meat.

"Why do people crave unhealthy foods when they are intoxicated?"

"Ummm..."

He actually had to think for a moment. He hadn't been drunk so many times in his life that it was a regular occurrence, after all he was technically only seventeen years old. He swallowed before answering.

"...I don't know really. I think it's called 'the munchies'"

She tilted her head to regard him sceptically for a moment.

"I guess people just crave food, and they tend to like the ones that smell the best. Those ones are usually the unhealthiest"

"Thank you for explaining"

John smiled, he was enjoying this. He thought it would be incredibly awkward considering what had happened last night. But then again, why would it be awkward? She wasn't a normal teenage girl and he wasn't a normal teenage guy. He kissed her, so what?

_Who are you trying to kid Johnny Boy?_

His brain was right.

She watched him with a sense of fascination while he ate. He still took the time to explain things to her, despite what had happened last night. She had thought he would be angry with her, that's why he left her to go out drinking. Putting him to bed last night and pestering Sarah enough to get her to leave John's lunch to her to make had been her way of apologising to him. She looked at him struggling to swallow a particularly dry bit of bread. She took the empty glass from the counter, stood and filled it from the dispenser on the front of the fridge. She returned to her seat and handed him the refilled glass. He took it with a smile and accidentally brushed her hand as he did.

The slight touch brought another smile to his face. He put down his remaining hot dog and took a sip from the glass, determined to make this one last longer than the previous one.

"John..."

When she heard no reply from inside the glass she continued.

"...what happened between us last night?"

John almost choked on the mouthful of water he was holding. Instead he spit it out all down himself and started coughing and spluttering. It's not that he wasn't expecting a question like this, but it still caught him off guard.

She merely tilted her head and examined him as he tried to recover from inhaling the liquid. _Having the oesophagus and the trachea so close is a design flaw in humans, it is potentially very dangerous._ Despite her very mechanical analysis she still felt the need to help, so she stood and moved around behind him. She gently but firmly rubbed his back in a circular motion as she had seen parents perform on their choking children. She waited for the coughing to subside before returning to her seat. She resumed her previous position and patiently awaited an answer.

John took another sip to try and clear his throat. He looked over to her and noticed her expectant and innocent expression.

"Well...um...Cameron...I..."

He was saved from having to continue his 'sentence' as Derek entered the kitchen.

"Hey John, jeez you look like shit"

Glad for the reprieve, John gladly answered his Uncle in good humour.

"Yeah well, I wish I felt that good"

Derek just chuckled while sticking his head in the fridge looking for something tasty. Evidently not finding anything he closed the door and turned to look at his nephew.

"That's what you get for getting so drunk that you can't even stay conscious long enough to get undressed"

John looked down as if noticing his appearance for the first time that day.

"Uh yeah, serves me right I guess"

Derek shifted his gaze to Cameron who was staring intently at John.

"So, what's up with the metal?"

Before John could pull his uncle up on calling Cameron 'metal', she answered for him.

"I am waiting for John to answer my question"

_Oh jeez Cameron, I thought you were smarter than this._

"Oh yeah, and what would that question be?"

Just as she opened her mouth to respond, John cut her off.

"Uh, she was just asking me why people eat crap when they are drunk"

John shot Cameron a look she couldn't quite decipher, but his obvious side stepping of her question didn't go unnoticed. She slowly stood and made to leave the room.

"Where are you going?" John asked her back.

"I'm going to prepare for today's mission. You should do the same"

She didn't turn to answer him and her mechanical tone stung him slightly.

"You should probably do the same" Derek said to him as he patted his nephew on the back on his way out of the room.

_I hate my life._

* * *

John felt orders of magnitude better after a hot shower. _Ah, the wonders of being clean._ He threw on a pair of jeans, a t-shirt and a hooded jacket and left his bedroom. He made a quick pit stop to the kitchen to swill down another glass of water before heading out the front door. He almost ran in to Cameron standing on the front porch on sentry duty. She didn't say anything or make any indication that she knew he was there. He moved around in front of her.

"Listen Cameron, I..."

A loud obnoxious sounding car horn interrupted him mid sentence.

"Come on John, get your ass moving, and bring the metal with you" John closed his eyes before mumbling under his breath.

"Dammit Derek if I have to tell you again to call her Cameron..."

She turned her head to face him and thanked him with a smile.

"Come on"

She moved past him and headed toward the truck with John close behind. John trotted ahead of her and opened the door to the empty back seat, motioning for her to enter before him. She did and he closed the door behind her. The gesture was noticed by both Derek in the driver's seat and Sarah in the front passenger seat. They watched John like a hawk as he walked around the front of the truck and climbed in the back next to Cameron and behind Derek. He looked at their expressions with a hint of amusement while he buckled his seat belt.

"When you're ready"

* * *

Three bored humans and one very alert cyborg had been sitting in the truck opposite a somewhat isolated and dilapidated building for nearly three hours. The building itself wasn't much to look at, not much more than a rundown office building. Plenty of windows, this worried Cameron greatly. While she had near perfect visual acuity, even her advanced processor couldn't track potential targets in so many different locations. Several scenarios ran through her CPU about the possibility of a sniper round penetrating the windshield and harming John. She almost petulantly issued an order to cancel the simulations and refocused on the windows.

Derek tried to stretch his body out in the front seat but couldn't quite get to his full reach, even in the very roomy Dodge Ram.

"I'm starving, anybody else hungry?"

He turned in his seat to look at Sarah alongside and John behind him. Finding them both nodding vigorously and Cameron looking at him with a curious expression on her face, he turned and nodded towards the nearby McDonalds.

"McDonalds okay with everyone?"

Finding them both nodding again, Derek reached in to the glove box and pulled out a small pad of paper and a pen.

"Alright, who wants what? Sarah?"

"I'd like a McChicken sandwich please" Derek scribbled down her order.

"John?"

"I'll have a large double cheeseburger meal with fries and a coke..."

Sarah turned in her seat to look disapprovingly at her son. John caught the look and amended his order.

"...fine. Make that a diet coke"

His smirk placated her for the moment as she turned back to her surveillance with a smile on her face.

Derek noted down John's corrected order and put his hand on the door handle.

"Uh, Derek"

"Yeah"

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

Derek looked at his nephew confused for a moment.

"Uh, no"

John rolled his eyes. _Yeah he is, and he knows exactly what I'm talking about._

"Don't you think that maybe Cameron might want something?"

Derek didn't even try to keep the look of disgust off his face.

"No. It's a machine, it doesn't want anything. Especially not fast food"

John leaned forward in his seat until he was right in his uncle's face. He looked at him with what he was hopeful would become the 'General Connor Stare'.

"How do you know if you don't ask?" John growled in his gravelly voice.

The tone in John's question left Derek with no room to manoeuvre. He looked at the metal that still had an inquisitive look on its face.

"Do you want anything?" he said through gritted teeth.

She tilted her head and looked away while considering for a moment before returning her gaze to Derek.

"Could I have a Chocolate McFlurry please?"

The sweet and innocent way she replied made Derek feel sick to his stomach, but one look at the still glaring John Connor forced him in to writing down her order too. He stepped out of the truck and trudged toward the restaurant muttering something about metal and whores under his breath.

* * *

The young, pretty, but bored looking employee resting her chin on her hands behind the counter of the McDonalds was filled with two entirely different feelings as she saw Derek approaching the entrance. On one hand here comes a large, dangerous looking man dressed in dark clothing with a pissed off look on his face storming towards her. On the other hand, well...he is cute. She decided not to push the silent alarm and perked up to take his order when he reached her.

"Welcome to McDonalds, what can I get you?" she said it in an annoyingly chirpy tone.

"Uh, yeah, hi. Could I have a McChicken sandwich, two large double cheeseburger meals, both with full fat coke and a..."

He couldn't believe he was actually going to order something for the metal.

"...chocolate McFlurry please"

He watched the girl behind the counter enter the order in to the touch screen register. He looked at her nametag which read 'Lucy'.

"Okay, will that be all sir?"

Derek noticed that she was pushing her chest out towards him and twirling a few strands of her hair rather playfully around her finger. _Some_ _other day Derek, remember you're on a mission. _He decided to give her a little thrill anyway, desperately wanting to take his mind off the metal.

"Yes. Thank you Lucy"

He was greeted with a bright smile and blushing cheeks from the pretty young blonde as she turned and shuffled off to prepare his order. She returned a few moments later with a large paper bag and a separate ice cream. She put the order down on the counter and looked at the register.

"That'll be fourteen dollars twenty five cents please sir"

She placed both her hands on the counter, the posture pressed her breasts together rather provocatively. _Damn Derek, you've certainly still got it._ He got his wallet out of his pocket and pulled out a twenty dollar bill. He handed it to over to her.

"Keep the change" he said with a wink.

He turned and left the restaurant, not looking back as he did. When he reached the parking lot he opened the bag to check his order. Sitting on top of the food was a small piece of paper. He pulled it out and looked at it.

_555 4672_

_Call me_

_Lucy_

_X_

He smiled all the way back to the truck, pocketing the number. _You never know._

"What are you smiling about?" Sarah asked as Derek re-entered the truck.

"Oh nothing, here, eat"

He handed Sarah her sandwich, pulled his own food out and handed the bag to John. He hesitated before handing the ice cream to Cameron, still simmering over being forced to buy her it in the first place.

"Thank you Derek" she kept up her sweet and innocent tone from before, annoying Derek no end. Annoying Derek was quickly becoming one of her favourite things to do.

As she expected she didn't receive a reply, he simply turned away and started digging in to his fries.

The four ate in an uncomfortable silence. A disgusted grunt emerged from Derek when he caught sight of John offering Cameron his fries in the rear view mirror. Cameron was about to refuse until she heard the grunt. She kept her eyes locked on Derek in the mirror as she reached over and took two fries from the carton.

"Thank you John" she said through a sweet smile directed squarely at the mirror. She kept her gaze on the mirror as she ate the fries, chewing and swallowing just as a human would. John just watched the whole exchange with great interest, trying not to laugh out loud at the absurdity of it all. He of course knew that offering Cameron his fries would drive Derek nuts.

"You finished?"

His mother's voice brought him back to reality. She was nodding at the empty burger box on the seat.

"Uhh yeah"

John looked at Cameron and gestured to her now empty ice cream container. She handed it to him and he placed it in the bag along with his own trash.

"Here"

He reached over to hand Sarah the bag. She turned around and leaned toward the back seat with her right arm.

At that moment the front windshield shattered and Sarah felt a searing pain in her right shoulder. A split second later and everyone heard the loud boom of a gunshot.

Sarah regained her senses and tried to lunge in to the back seat to protect John, but it was too late, Cameron had already spread her body over his in an attempt to cover every square inch. Several more rounds penetrated the windshield and slammed in to Cameron's back, shredding her clothes.

_Low calibre rounds, threat minimal, damage none._

_Protect John Connor._

"DRIVE" Cameron shouted over the sound of flying bullets.

Derek did as he was told without hesitation and started the car engine. He slammed his foot on the accelerator and swung the truck around in a 180, trying to put as much distance between the building and the truck as possible.

Sarah frantically loosened her seat belt while trying to keep pressure on her wound. The bullet went right through her shoulder, she felt blood escaping down her back under her shirt.

Once they were a safe distance away from the building, Cameron pulled back from John slightly. He smiled at her with a goofy look on his face.

"Hey..."

She looked down and saw a patch of blood on his shirt. The first round had gone through Sarah's shoulder and hit John in the stomach.

"...has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?"

His eyes started to close and Cameron became frantic.

"JOHN, please no, JOHN" Cameron wailed while trying to wake him up.

Sarah turned around to see what was going on. Upon seeing the blood she too began to panic.

"JOHN. DEREK, GET US TO A HOSPITAL"

Derek meanwhile somehow managed to keep his cool. He knew that taking John to a hospital was a bad move and would only end up involving the police.

"Hey metal, can you fix him?"

"WHO THE HELL CARES, GET US TO A HOSPITAL, HE'S BEEN SHOT" Sarah was frantic and trying to climb in to the back seat.

Cameron didn't respond and seemed to be in an even worse state than Sarah. She was cuddling his head to her chest and appeared to be shushing him and gently rocking him back and forth.

Derek yelled as loud as he could.

"CAMERON"

She slowly turned her tear streaked face around to him.

"Can you fix him?"

She was in such a blind panic that she hadn't even thought to check how bad his injury was. She did a detailed scan of the wound and realised the bullet hadn't struck any major organs.

"Yes, I think so" she managed to choke out between sobs

"Good"

Derek picked up the pace, weaving between traffic as he headed towards their home.

Both Sarah and Cameron were now in the back seat. They had managed to lay John down and Sarah was doing her best to apply pressure to his wound while Cameron was talking to him and trying to keep him awake.

His eyes opened to see Cameron's red and glistening ones staring back at him.

"Has someone upset you? I'll kick their ass?"

She couldn't help but smile at his delirious talk and kept him engaged in the conversation, trying to keep him conscious.

"Yes they have, but don't worry. We can kick their asses together when you get better"

John chuckled slightly.

"You used a bad word"

"I know lots of bad words"

"Tell me some of them"

She proceeded to reel off a dictionary like list of insults and curse words that she had picked up during her existence. John laughed a little and brought his hand up to cup her cheek.

"That is so sexy"

With that his world went dark.

* * *

**Well I hope you all enjoyed it! Not a lot of Jameron and something of a cliffhanger!**

**I tried to inject a little more humour in to this chapter, I hope it came across that way.**

**If you don't believe that Sarah would fail to notice John sneaking out and getting drunk then check out Mr Ferguson and Self made man. She didn't seem to notice when he snuck out in both those episodes.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Woohoo, I passed my Cisco CCENT exam this week!**

**Just to let you all know I'm thinking about ending this story with chapter 12 and starting a new continuation story pretty much straight away, maybe with an OC or two!**

**Thanks to reviewers jojobevco, The1Russter, ElusiveSanity, CloudyShadows, DragonSeraphin, olischulu, TK-MR, kaotic2, fullhans1, clearfanfic, MementoMoriYB, Jbeaster, uncommoner and meanoldmoe.**

**

* * *

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John Connor woke up very gently that morning. It was one of those mornings where you wake up with your eyes closed and just relax some more. Lying on his back with his eyes closed, he could feel the sunlight shining gently through the window. He could feel the cool breeze blowing across him from the open window and he could hear the birds tweeting softly outside. All in all it was a pretty good morning.

After finally deciding to open his eyes he took in his surroundings. The room looked warm and inviting. There was a subtle waft of bacon, no doubt coming from the kitchen downstairs. John however quickly noticed something was off, he felt a weight on his body that wasn't usually there.

_It must have been Mom, just her way of keeping me a kid by tucking me in too tight while I was asleep, yeah that must be it._

John looked down and was taken completely by surprise, his eyes widened in panic. He saw the top of a full head of long, dark, beautiful hair.

_Oh crap, if Mom comes in here now she'll flip. Just gently ease away, don't wake her and make a swift exit._

John had never been one to follow his childhood training however and sheer curiosity gripped him as he decided to take a closer look. Looking down at his legs he saw her bare left leg intertwined with his own.

_Are those my boxers? Dude, those are my boxers!_

Needless to say his eyes were trailing further up her body. She was wearing one of his larger dress shirts and a pair of his boxer shorts. _Cool_. Her left arm was draped over his body. He faintly felt her tiny left hand gripping his t-shirt possessively. Continuing on up, he felt her soft breasts pressing up against his side, her head resting on his shoulder. He noticed the small damp patch on his t-shirt near her mouth.

_Aww, even when she's drooling all over me she's still cute._

John reached out his left hand and tenderly twirled a few strands of her hair around his finger, marvelling at how soft it felt. She stirred and let out a soft sleepy moan.

"Morning sleepy head"

"Mmmm, morning" she breathed.

She lifted her head up from his shoulder and noticed the small patch where she'd been sleeping. She also noticed the tangled up posture of them both. John felt her stiffen and her breathing became more and more ragged.

"I…I'm sorry John…I…I don't know why…I'm sorry…I'm so so sorry…I…we shouldn't"

Her body was racked with uncontrolled sobbing, she gripped his shirt tighter as if he was about to leave her forever.

"Hey hey hey, what's wrong huh?"

"We shouldn't be doing this John, I…I've failed you"

"What are you talking about?"

"John Connor can't be with a machine...it's too dangerous...you won't survive"

He felt her start to shake against his chest, her face buried deep in the fabric of his t-shirt. He did what he felt was right and put both his arms around her and held her tight, desperately wanting to be there for her. He held her close for a few minutes until he felt her stop crying and heard a few soft sniffles coming from her. He pulled back slightly to look at her dishevelled appearance. She still clung to his torso tightly and her hair was a mess.

"Feel better now?"

"Yes John" sniffle "Thank you"

He gave her one last squeeze before releasing her and lying back down, Cameron following him to lay flat beside him. She busied herself for a moment by playing with a loose thread on his t-shirt. She seemed to be trying to come up with the right words. He helped her out.

"So...you wanna tell me what you meant a minute ago?"

He felt her stiffen again before replying in a careful voice.

"I don't understand"

_Yes you do, but I'll let it slide for now._

"I mean when you said it's dangerous for me to be with you. What did you mean by that?"

She didn't reply and instead took a renewed and determined interest in that loose thread. John suddenly realised he hadn't seen her angelic face since he woke up, only the top of her head. He reached out his right hand to pull her chin up to face him. When he did his hand felt cold.

_Hmmm, tears must still be damp or something._

He tried to gently tilt her chin up to face him but she resisted.

"I meant what I said John. I am a machine. I am dangerous"

Her voice lacked all of its usual warmth and innocent curiosity, instead replaced by a cold mechanical tone. John lay there with his mouth open for a second as he processed her words, and the way in which she said it.

"Um, okay. So what does this mean for us then Cameron?"

"There is no us. There is only John Connor and the machines...it is your destiny"

She slowly lifted her head up off his chest and raised it up to face him for the first time. John froze in fear as her beautiful features were replaced by the cold, calculating, mechanical grin he was so used to seeing in his nightmares.

John screwed his eyes shut for a moment in disbelief. When he opened them again he saw Cameron standing at the foot of his bed. Her hair was gone, as were her clothes and more terrifyingly so was her skin. He took in her gleaming endoskeleton in all its glory, smaller than a triple eight but still imposing in its own way.

John couldn't understand what was happening. One moment he was in bed with a beautiful girl and the next he was at the mercy of a metal monster. Her eyes suddenly flashed an evil red glow and John started to back away in sheer terror. He scrambled backwards on the bed, never taking his eyes off 'her'. His back hit the headboard, forcing him to turn away and look for another escape route. When he turned, instead of seeing his headboard he found he had backed in to a burned out shell of an overturned car.

_What the hell?_

John turned back to face Cameron, when he did he found himself on the ground in a post apocalyptic wasteland. He saw a group of triple eight endo's on the horizon firing their plasma rifles at some unseen foe. He could smell rotting and burning flesh and half the landscape appeared to be on fire. His attention returned to Cameron suddenly as she started to move towards him. He tried to scramble away even further, forgetting about the wreckage behind him. He bumped in to it again and tried to crawl to his right when he bumped in to a triple eight endoskeleton towering above him. He fell backwards and landed with a thud on his ass, his instincts kicked in and he tried to back away from it as fast as he could. He succeeded in backing in to another endo a few yards away.

His worst nightmares had come true as he was stuck between two machines with no hope of escape. He backed away a couple of feet when something grabbed his throat and slammed his head back in to the car. He felt his head being turned to face his attacker. He was greeted with the sight of Cameron seemingly studying him intensely, the chrome of her bare endoskeleton sending a chill down his spine. She noticed his fearful expression and tilted her head in her usual fashion as she examined him closely.

"Don't be scared John. This is your destiny"

John struggled more in her grasp to no avail. She wasn't choking him, instead she was merely holding him in place while she continued to stare at him.

"What do you want?"

She looked away from him for a moment while she considered.

_Just like my Cameron does_.

John was shook from his thoughts when she answered.

"I'd like a kiss John"

John's eyes widened in panic as she moved her face closer to his. She noticed his renewed struggling and spoke again, her optical sensors never leaving his eyes.

"I love you John"

With that she inched her face ever closer to his until John couldn't bare it any longer and closed his eyes. A second later he felt cold metal press against his lips.

"CAMERON...AAARGH"

John shot up bolt upright in bed and screamed out in pain before falling flat on his back again, the pain in his stomach overwhelming him as he let out another cry.

"Stay still John. Extra movement will only increase your blood loss"

The words didn't register with him as he continued to thrash around in pain. Cameron feared this would happen. With him unconscious she was able to work on his wound without feeling the guilt of causing him pain. She didn't want to administer sedatives when he was unconscious due to the risks it posed, however she was now left with little choice.

"This will hurt John. I'm sorry"

She pulled her hand out from his wound where she had been trying, unsuccessfully, to pull the still lodged bullet out. John cried out in pain at the action. She had used her fingers due to the exact precision and germ resistant coating they offered when compared with using forceps.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry"

She kept on repeating these words over and over as she reached in to the medical kit and retrieved a syringe filled with a clear liquid. She repeated her words until after what seemed like an eternity she injected the powerful sedative directly in to John's carotid artery. He slumped back on to the bed a few seconds later much to Cameron's relief.

"I'm sorry"

A single tear rolled down her cheek as she stuck her thumb and forefinger back in to his wound again.

* * *

"Dammit Derek get out of my way"

Sarah tried to shove her way past the future resistance fighter, but he kept his hand firmly on the door frame blocking her path. She shot him a murderous glare before trying to move past him on the other side, once again he blocked her with his arm.

"What the hell is your problem? Let me past, I need to go help John"

"No you don't Sarah, you're hurt"

"I don't give a crap Derek, he's my son"

She tried again to move past him but he wouldn't budge.

"Reese, move" she practically growled at him.

Derek took a deep breath and thought about what he was about to say.

"Listen to me Sarah. As much as I hate to say it, the metal is taking care of John. It can do a better job of it than either of us can. John doesn't need you right now, he needs medical attention and that's exactly what he is getting next door"

He swallowed and waited for her reply. For a moment he actually wondered how he was able to separate Sarah from her son for even a moment. He got the courage up to speak again, in spite of her continuous glare.

"Listen, let me patch you up and give you something for the pain. Then we can go next door to see if we can help"

As if noticing it for the first time Sarah looked down at her shoulder and would have seen two large holes on both sides were it not for Derek's jacket wrapped tightly around the wounds.

"Alright, but make it quick"

Sarah moved to sit on the edge of her bed, Derek following closely behind.

"Okay, let's get this off"

Derek gently removed his blood soaked jacket from her shoulder. He took his time, trying not to cause additional pain.

"Faster than that Derek, I can take the pain" Sarah said through gritted teeth.

Derek did as instructed and ripped the jacket away, discarding it on the bed. He pulled back to inspect the wound. He had seen many wounds like this in the future, through and through's caused by plasma rifle rounds. He was grateful that General Connor had insisted that all resistance solders be trained with basic field triage. Sarah was lucky on this occasion, the bullet hadn't penetrated any major arteries and the bleeding was surprisingly light. He reached in to his own medical kit and pulled out a needle and thread.

"This is gonna hurt like hell Sarah. You ready?"

She nodded, keeping her eyes locked on her bedroom door, towards John.

Derek proceeded to stitch the entry wound on the front of her shoulder. He did it with the efficiency of a soldier and soon had it stitched and bandaged.

"Alright, turn around a little and I'll take care of the exit wound"

Sarah did as instructed and turned slightly away from him to give him access. Derek moved to sit on the bed behind her and pulled out a fresh needle and thread. He noticed an old wound on the back of her other shoulder as he did.

"Hey Sarah, what's this wound from?" he tapped it gently to clarify his meaning.

Sarah still did not remove her stare from the door as she replied.

"T one thousand"

"Tell me about it"

Derek stuck the needle in to her skin as he spoke, trying to keep her distracted enough to lessen the pain slightly.

"Skynet sent a T one thousand back to kill John when he was ten. It followed us to a steel plant and we managed to destroy it. At one point it cornered me, it pinned me to the wall through this wound with a spear from its finger. It tried to get me to call to John. I didn't"

Derek continued to stitch the wound while he listened.

"How come it didn't kill you?"

"A reprogrammed T eight hundred damn near sliced it in half just as it was about to kill me. That machine saved me from another and eventually he was the one that fired the shot that killed the one thousand. He had to sacrifice himself to stop judgement day. He had me lower him down in to the molten steel that killed the other. That's why when Cameron showed up I accepted her in to our lives. I saw that not all machines are evil"

Sarah hesitated as she recalled the next part.

"John didn't want him to go. He cried and begged for the machine to stay. He couldn't understand why he had to lose his best friend. He thought of the machine as a kind of father figure, he even named him Uncle Bob"

Sarah laughed at the memory of John trying to teach Bob how high fives worked.

"I've known since then that it doesn't matter to John what things are made of. He treats them as if they are human anyway. That's what scares me so much about him and Cameron. He sees her as a human girl, he doesn't even seem to remember that she tried to kill him not so long ago. He's too close to her and it scares me Derek"

A tear spilled from her eyes that Derek didn't notice from his position behind her. He did however notice the shaking of her voice. He knew she was getting emotional and wouldn't be of any help at all to John now. He finished up bandaging Sarah's shoulder.

"I'm all done. Let's go see John. But will you let me give you something for the pain?"

Sarah nodded solemnly, still keeping her back turned to him. Derek pulled out a similar looking syringe to the one Cameron had used on John earlier. He injected the clear liquid in to Sarah's arm and helped her to stand from the bed, staying very close behind her.

After taking a couple of steps toward the door Sarah suddenly felt very light headed. She realised what had happened and turned her head to look at Derek who had an apologetic look on his face.

"Why you..."

Sarah never got to finish the sentence as she collapsed backwards in to Derek's waiting arms. He caught her easily and managed to hoist her up on to her bed. He laid her flat on her back and pulled a blanket out from the dresser drawer. He laid it over her up to her stomach.

"I'm sorry but this is for your own good"

With that he turned and left the room, closing the door behind him. He made the short journey over to John's bedroom and pushed the door open quietly. It looked like a bomb had hit. There was blood splattered on the floor, making a trail to the bed where John lay unconscious. He had an IV drip running in to his arm and was still covered in dried blood.

The metal sat in a chair near John's bed and was just staring at him. Its hands were covered in dried blood and its back was shredded from the rounds that it took to protect John. If it noticed his entrance it made no indication of it.

Derek took a few steps closer in to the room and stood behind the metal.

"How is he?"

Cameron never removed her gaze from John as she replied in a mechanical tone.

"I have removed the bullet and stitched the wound. He lost a lot of blood but not a life threatening amount. He will be fine with a few weeks rest"

Derek moved past the machine and felt John's pulse just to make sure. When Derek felt his heart beating strongly, he smiled and turned away to leave the room. He spared a last glance at the machine which hadn't moved since he entered the room.

"Good job"

Derek left the room before Cameron had a chance to process his words.

_Good job._

They were probably the nicest words Derek had ever spoken to her. But she wasn't concerned with anything Derek had to say. The only thing that mattered to her was what John said and did.

She looked at John with sadness in her eyes. He had been hurt while under her protection, she hadn't been fast enough and he had been seriously injured. To top it all off she hadn't done an efficient job of protecting him even after he'd been shot. She had panicked and had been completely unable to function.

If the bullet had entered an inch higher it would have severed a major artery and John would have bled out in a matter of minutes. John would have died and Cameron would have failed. The thought terrified her and she did her best to bury the feeling.

She was in danger of losing John, and she didn't know what to do about it.

* * *

Sarah woke with a start and immediately regretted it. The searing pain in her shoulder a vivid reminder of the events of what she assumed was the day before.

"Dammit Derek"

Sarah remembered moving toward the door and then suddenly feeling very faint.

_That jackass drugged me._

Sarah swore to herself that she would never forgive Derek if anything happened to her son while she was out. She groggily sat up and rather unsteadily stood from the bed. She moved shakily toward the door, opened it and peered out in to the corridor. Seeing no sign of Derek waiting with another syringe she stumbled over to John's door, bursting through it as she did.

She took in the exact same sight that Derek had seen when he had walked in. Nothing had changed, Cameron hadn't moved an inch. Her eyes widened in panic as she saw John lying on his bed covered in blood. She naturally feared the worst.

"JOHN"

She did her best to race over to him when Cameron suddenly stood up from her seat and blocked her path. Sarah tried to wrestle with her for a moment before realising it was futile.

"Get out of my way Cameron" Sarah practically screamed.

"John is fine Sarah, moving him will reopen his wounds and start the bleeding again. I can't let you do that" Cameron replied with her robot voice firmly in place.

"What? Who the hell are you to tell me what I can and can't do with my son?" Sarah asked incredulous at the cheek of the machine in front of her.

Cameron took a look over her shoulder at John before turning back to Sarah and replying in a voice laced with emotion.

"I am his best friend"

With that she moved out of Sarah's path and resumed her previous position on the chair near the bed.

Sarah stared at the clearly upset cyborg and seemed to calm down for the moment. She slowly moved over to her son and ran her hand over his cheek.

"Please...be careful"

Sarah heard the voice come from behind her and turned to look at Cameron. She had a look of concern on her face and was staring at Sarah's hand on John's cheek. Sarah shook her head before asking a question.

"Why do you care?"

Cameron looked away for a moment as she considered her response. She wasn't sure how much she should tell Sarah. She settled on something that she hoped would be adequate to convince Sarah.

"John has been hurt. He could have died if the bullet had struck an inch higher. He could have died Sarah. I am supposed to protect him, and he has been shot. I have failed"

Cameron looked down to her lap as she awaited Sarah's response.

Sarah looked back down to her son and gave his cheek one last stroke before standing up and turning to face Cameron.

"Yes you have. You have failed. John got shot on your watch, you were supposed to protect him and you failed to do so..."

Sarah hesitated as she looked at the distraught cyborg.

"...but if you weren't there he would have been killed by those bullets that are lodged in your back. Thank you"

Cameron raised her eyes to look at Sarah with disbelief. First Derek was complimenting her and now Sarah was forgiving her.

_Maybe I've been overreacting._

Cameron watched as Sarah left the room. She was intent on finding Derek and kicking his ass.

"Look after him" she said over her shoulder to the girl currently staring at her with wide eyes.

She would.


	11. Chapter 11

**Nice quick update for you all to enjoy. I have some great plans for chapter 12 and I really wanted to get this one out of the way sooner rather than later.**

**Thanks to reviewers kaotic2, fullhans1, jojobevco, The1Russter, CloudyShadows, TSCCandTwilightarehebest and olischulu.**

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The terminator stood in the middle of the room with its eyes wide open. It saw everything and nothing at the same time. A Terminator in standby may as well be a statue until something triggers it 'awake'. That something in this case was a text message received on the cell phone in its pocket.

_Standby sequence terminated..._

_Rebooting in 15 seconds..._

_Primary directive – Terminate John Connor..._

_Secondary directive – Terminate rogue model TOK-715 cyborg known as 'Cameron'..._

_Tertiary objective – Prevent future assets from aiding John Connor..._

_Reboot sequence complete..._

The machine looked around for a moment to ensure the area was secure. Finding the room exactly how he left it upon entering standby, he reached in to one of the pockets of his grey cargo pants and pulled out the phone. He opened the text message and read the contents:

_Time displacement detected, co-ordinates Longitude 118.15__⁰__ W, Latitude 34.04__⁰__ N. Investigate and prevent any possible aid from reaching John Connor._

The machine pocketed the phone and picked up the 9mm from the table. He left the apartment, not sparing a glance at the previous owner currently crumpled up in the corner of the room.

* * *

_Occurrence number 38..._

_Initiate standard reply..._

"He will be fine with a long period of rest"

So far today Cameron had been asked '_How's John' _or some variation of those words on thirty eight separate occasions by either Sarah or Derek. The latter of which was currently sporting a rather angry looking bruise around his right eye where Sarah had decked him earlier. This time it was John's mother that had entered the room and was currently fussing over the bandages on John's wound.

_I've just redressed his wound, leave them alone!_

Cameron found herself somewhat perplexed by her internal outburst, but she put it down to not having entered standby since John had been shot. She hadn't analysed the panic and anxiety she felt yet and had found it made her 'cranky' as humans would say it. Derek had made an abrupt u-turn on his earlier 'good job' comment when Cameron snapped at him for having the gall to not close the door behind him as he left the room. She didn't want John to be cold.

Cameron watched silently as Sarah proceeded to reapply a fresh bandage to John's wound, in Cameron's opinion, to a worse standard than what was there previously.

_Does that woman even care about her son? God dammit I swear if he catches an infection..._

Cameron stopped herself mid thought.

'_God Dammit I swear?' What is wrong with me?_

Cameron watched as Sarah stood back and admired her handy work. She seemed to be proud of the crappy dressing she had just applied.

"Happy now?" she found herself saying in a harsh tone.

"Excuse me" Sarah said, slightly confused at the Terminator's sudden outburst.

"Are you happy with that dressing?"

She found herself pointing at Sarah's work for emphasis.

"Well, yeah" Sarah responded in a confused tone.

"It is sub standard. John deserves better. He could get an infection, the bleeding could start again, he..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who the hell are you to tell me how to look after MY son?"

"I already told you, are you deaf too? I am his best friend"

Cameron barged past Sarah and knelt down next to the bed and started to carefully remove the bandages she had applied. Sarah merely watched, flabbergasted, as Cameron practically shoved her out of the way to tend to her son. She watched as the cyborg very efficiently replaced the bandage to what looked to be pretty much the same as how she had applied it. She also noticed the almost loving fashion in which she did it. When Cameron stood, seemingly satisfied with her work, she turned to face Sarah.

"Happy now?" Sarah said, throwing Cameron's earlier words right back at her.

Cameron looked back at her work for a moment before replying.

"Yes"

With that she brushed past Sarah and sat down on the chair facing John where she had been a few moments ago.

_Really? Well two can play at that game. Here's something you can't do._

Sarah tried to hide the smirk from her face as she casually stepped over to John and bent down near to his face. She watched out of the corner of her eye as she placed a motherly kiss on John's forehead. Cameron actually looked like she wanted to rip Sarah's head off for daring to make contact with John right in front of her. Sarah stood and smiled sweetly at Cameron as she moved past her.

"Nice bandage"

That was probably the first moment that Sarah had gotten one over on the young cyborg, and it made her feel damn good! She left the room with a genuine smile on her face for the first time in a long time.

Cameron meanwhile was still struggling to understand what had just happened.

_I'll ask John when he feels better._

* * *

The machine stalked down the back alley located at the coordinates that were provided to him earlier. His head was scanning side to side, taking in every detail with his cybernetic eyes. The rain was pounding down to an extent that it was starting to flood the alleyway slightly. But he didn't care, he had a mission and he was determined to find out who or what had been sent back.

He rounded a corner and took in the scene in front of him. There was a large circular indentation in the ground. A nearby dumpster has a similarly shaped section missing from it. A handful of scorch marks adorned the brick walls of the two nearby buildings.

_Initiating scan..._

_Residual temporal energy detected..._

_Switching vision modes..._

The machine scanned the area using it's multitude of different visual spectrums, trying to find any signs of where the time traveller had gone, or if it was still in the vicinity. He found nothing.

He turned to leave the alley, intent on monitoring the media for any signs of activity, people having their clothes stolen for example. His progress was halted as he heard a soft sobbing noise emanating from behind the dumpster. He approached slowly, pulling out the 9mm as he did. Instead of merely walking around the dumpster as any person would do, he did what any other Terminator would do and simply grabbed and hauled the dumpster out of his path.

He discovered where the sobbing was coming from when he found a small girl cowering against the wall, hugging her knees up to her chest. She had a pretty, yellow, flower patterned dress on that was now soaked through and she wore nothing on her feet. She had her blonde hair set in pigtails which was now plastered to her skin. She looked up upon hearing the dumpster being tossed aside and saw the big man holding a gun at his side. She appeared to be no more than eight years old.

"Please don't hurt me" she sobbed.

She pulled her legs even closer to her chest and tucked her face in behind her arms.

Deeming the girl to be no threat, the machine tucked the gun in to the back of his waistband and set about finding out what this child was doing here.

"Who are you?"

She didn't answer and seemed to flinch at his strong and mechanical tone.

Seeing that being blunt wouldn't get him any answers, the Terminator accessed his database on the correct way to talk to children. He processed the information and kneeled down near the girl. He started talking in a much softer tone.

"I won't hurt you"

She peered up from her arms and looked at him through red and puffy eyes. She sniffled once before replying.

"Do you promise?"

The machine smiled a very crooked and obviously forced smile at her.

"Yes, I promise. What is your name?"

She tucked her head away again.

"My daddy told me not to talk to strangers" she said from behind her arms.

Realising that children do not have the mental capacity of adults, the machine formulated a plan to confuse the girl.

"If you tell me your name then we won't be strangers anymore"

The girl raised her head again and seemed to reach the conclusion that the strange man was right.

"My name is Amy" she said quickly.

The machine smiled again.

"Hello Amy. That is a very pretty name"

Sniffle "Thank you"

"You're welcome. What are you doing here Amy?"

Amy looked around, as if noticing her surroundings for the first time.

"I, I don't know. I was with my mommy and daddy a little while ago. But now I don't know where they are"

She sniffled again and tried to wipe her nose and eyes with her soaking wet hands.

The machine reached in to his pocket and surprisingly pulled out a handkerchief. One which obviously belonged to the poor Kaliba employee that used to own the pants he was currently wearing. He offered it to Amy with a smile.

"Here"

She tentatively unfolded her arms and reached out to take the handkerchief from the nice man.

"Thank you"

She softly wiped her eyes, clearing the tears, followed by her nose.

"There, all better. Did you see what happened here?" he waved his arm in the general direction of the crater and the scorch marks.

Amy peered past him to where he was pointing and slowly shook her head.

"No. I just want to find my mommy and daddy. Will you help me?"

Realising that this small human knew nothing of the time displacement, the machine stood and turned to walk away.

"Wait, where are you going?"

Amy shouted after him, confused as to where the nice man was going, and why he was leaving her alone like this. She received no reply and got up from the ground to chase after him. She trotted up next to him and tugged on his hand lightly to get his attention.

"I thought you were going to help me" she practically begged.

The machine turned to regard her for a moment before shaking her grasp off his hand and shoving her to the ground.

"Owww"

The machine ignored her cry of pain and continued to stalk away from her.

"Wait. I want to tell you something"

Upon hearing this, the machine turned around and looked at the young girl as she slowly stood from the puddle on the ground. Perhaps this human had been lying to him about how much she knew.

Amy fixed the machine with a glare that would have put fear in to the hearts of most humans and spoke in a flat tone.

"That wasn't very nice"

She slowly raised her finger and pointed at the machine's chest.

_Alert...damage to primary power cell detected..._

_Shutting down while power is re-routed to backup systems..._

Amy pulled the six foot metal spear from the chest of the machine and watched as it collapsed to the ground. The spear slowly reformed into a small blade as she watched it with a curious expression on her face. When it had fully reformed, she casually walked over to the machine and sliced a semicircle of flesh out of the machines skull. She popped the port cap open with her 'finger' and removed the chip with her other hand. She looked at the chip in her hand for a moment before watching the blade change back in to a finger. She placed the chip in to one of the pockets of her dress and stepped over the now deactivated machine. She reached down and pulled its cell phone out of its pocket and placed it in her own. She turned and started to skip away from the scene, humming the tune to 'We're off to see the wizard' to herself.

* * *

"Owwwwww"

"John?"

Cameron leaped up from her seat at the sound of his voice, a voice she hadn't heard in nearly two days.

"Yeah Cameron, it's me"

John opened his eyes only to have his vision filled with Cameron's beautiful face mere inches from his own. A goofy smile spread across his face.

"Hi"

Cameron's own smile faded and was replaced by a frown as John addressed her.

"Wait here"

Just as quickly as she had entered his vision she left it, her hair swinging round behind her.

_Where is she going?_

Thinking that he had done something to offend her, he tried to sit up to get a better look around and immediately regretted it, the pain reminding him of _why_ he was flat on his back. He made an executive decision that he would stay put for now. He smiled at his own internal ramblings.

A moment later Cameron returned with a glass and a large jug of water. She placed both on the bedside table and filled the glass from the jug. She held the glass in one hand and slid her other hand underneath John's head, raising it slightly.

"Here, drink this"

She held the glass to his lips as he took a few small sips. He hadn't realised when he woke up that his mouth and throat were bone dry.

"Thank you"

She smiled as she placed the glass down by the jug.

"You're welcome"

He looked at her quizzically for a moment.

"How did you know I needed a drink?"

She tilted her head and regarded him for a moment before replying.

"I could tell from your voice when you said 'hi'. You were in need of lubrication, I provided it"

Despite the fact that John had lost a lot of blood over the last couple of days, what he had left still managed to find its way to his cheeks. _I wonder if she does it on purpose._

"So, um, what happened?"

"You got shot"

John rolled his eyes at her obviousness.

"Well, yeah, I kinda guessed that. But what I meant was what happened after that?"

"Oh, thank you for explaining. A single round penetrated Sarah's shoulder and entered your abdomen. It did not hit any vital organs but you did lose a lot of blood, fortunately not enough to require a transfusion. When the shot hit Sarah I placed my body on top of yours to prevent any further injuries. We came back here and Derek treated Sarah's wound, I treated yours."

John did his best to nod.

"How's mom?"

"She is fine. Derek is a good field medic, though Sarah didn't really appreciate the help. They are not on speaking terms at the moment"

"What? Why?"

"Sarah did not appreciate Derek injecting her with sedatives to lower the risk of further injury occurring. He now has a black eye that will take eight days and thirteen hours to fully heal"

John chuckled and felt a sharp pain coming from his abdomen again. He winced and let out a strangled cry of pain.

"John?"

"I'm okay Cameron. Just help me to sit up a little would you?"

Cameron analysed the probability of his wound reopening if he was moved and deemed it safe enough to help him up.

"Of course"

She carefully lifted his head up and pulled the pillow out from underneath him. She propped them up against the headboard while still supporting his head with her other hand. Using unnatural strength, she placed her hands under his arms and hoisted him in to an upright position. He couldn't help but grimace in pain but managed to force a smile when she pulled away slightly.

"Better?"

"Yeah, thanks"

She smiled back at him and sat down on her chair again. The room filled with an uncomfortable silence as the two merely stared at each other. John was the first to break the tension.

"So, um, I guess I should thank you"

Cameron tilted her head at him for a moment.

"For what?"

"Well, for throwing yourself in the way of a dozen bullets for me. Again"

Cameron looked down at her hands as if ashamed. John noticed the action but decided to let her explain if she wanted to.

"I don't deserve to be thanked John..."

She looked up from her hands and her eyes met his.

"...You have been shot. I am supposed to protect you. I have failed"

She looked back down again. If John had the strength he would have hugged her and held her tight right then and there.

"You did protect me Cameron. If it wasn't for you I would have had a dozen holes in me instead of just one. You also fixed me up pretty good, so yes Cameron, you do deserve to be thanked. Thank you"

She processed his words for a moment before looking up and treating him to a bright beaming smile which he returned.

"In that case, you are welcome John"

A somewhat more comfortable silence descended on the two before Cameron spoke again.

"Are you hungry?"

Just then, as if on cue John's stomach growled.

"I am according to growley down there" he said pointing to his stomach.

"I'll fix you something" she smiled at him as she stood from her chair.

When she turned to leave the room, John caught sight of her back. It was still riddled with holes and covered in her dried synthetic blood. Just then he realised that she was in the same clothes she was wearing the day of the attack.

_She hasn't left my side all this time._

Up until that moment John had never truly realised the extent of her devotion to him, and just how lucky he was that his future self had decided to send her back to himself.

_Wait...future self...back to self...yeah, that's right._

John was prevented from continuing his internal debate over the causality of time travel by the return of Cameron. She was holding a dinner tray with a steaming bowl of, something, on it as well as a couple of bread buns. She entered the room and placed the tray on his lap, taking care to avoid putting pressure on his wound. John looked down at the contents of the bowl and raised an eyebrow.

"Ooookay, what's this?"

Cameron let a proud smile show before answering.

"It is chicken soup. It is my understanding that when people are sick they have chicken soup. Did I do something wrong? I can make something else if you'd like"

She started to reach for the tray but John stopped her by gently grasping her outstretched hand.

"No Cameron, it's great. Thank you"

She smiled before slowly pulling her hand away from his and sitting back down on the chair to watch him eat.

As much as John usually enjoyed chicken soup, and Cameron had once again prepared a meal perfectly, he struggled to eat it. Sure the pain didn't really help, but the most distracting element was Cameron. Not the fact that she was sitting watching him eat, he actually quite enjoyed that part for some reason. It was those wounds on her back. Either nobody had offered to help her with them, or she had refused their help and would only allow him to touch her. He hoped it was the latter but accepted that it was probably the former. This thought irritated him to no end. Despite all that Cameron had done for him and his family, they still refused to treat her any differently than the rest of the machines. It seemed that he was the only one who could see just how different she was. The little things she did, like making meals for him, like asking questions about totally mundane things that humans took for granted. Along with other more overt signs like crying and experiencing what appeared to be mood swings.

As John finished mopping up his soup with the last piece of bread, he looked up at Cameron who was still staring intently at him. He looked at her innocent expression and decided to do something nice for her.

"Wow. That was delicious Cameron. Thank you"

He was rewarded for his compliment with a bright smile as she moved to take his tray away. Just as she turned to leave the room with the tray, John called her back.

"Hey Cameron, sit down a minute would you?"

He patted the empty spot next to him on the bed. She placed the tray down on the dresser and complied with his wishes. She perched herself very primly on the edge of his bed and waited for him to say whatever he had to say.

"So...I noticed your back is still full of holes"

She didn't even flinch as she replied.

"Yes"

"Well, did anybody offer to help you with that?"

She looked down at her lap.

"No..."

She raised her eyes to meet his again.

"...but even if they had, I would only trust you to do it"

_Well how about that, it was both._

Feeling an immense sense of pride welling up inside of him, he ploughed on.

"Okay. Well, get the toolkit and the med kit out and let me take care of you for a change"

She leaped up from the bed and started shaking her head vigorously.

"No. I will not let you risk further injury to yourself"

Surprised, and a little amused, at her sudden outburst, John looked at her calmly for a moment.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine, why?" she snapped.

"Just asking" John said, slightly taken aback by her abrupt tone.

She suddenly looked very guilty and sheepishly moved to sit beside him on the bed again.

"I, I'm sorry John. I'm struggling to maintain control of my emotions. I haven't entered standby since...you were shot...it is, difficult"

John did his best to reach over and took her hand in his.

"Hey, emotions are difficult. Even the best of us struggle with them sometimes. Now, are you gonna let me help you?"

A light rub of her knuckles with his thumb sealed the deal as she slowly nodded. She stood and reached under the bed, pulling out the two boxes that John had used to repair her previously. She opened the boxes on the floor due to the current lack of space on the bed. She pulled out the needle nosed pliers and handed them to John. She turned her back to him and removed her jacket, deftly tossing it in to the corner of the room. Keeping her back to him, she reached for the hem of her shirt and pulled it off over her head, the shirt quickly joining the jacket in what appeared to be the room's new dumping grounds. She sat back down on the bed with her back still to John and reached around to unhook her bra. She once again threw it accurately in to the bathroom laundry hamper through the open door.

John, to his eternal credit, did his best to keep his eyes from wandering and concentrated on the task at hand. He rolled over slightly onto his left side and grimaced in pain as his wound was stretched slightly. Cameron heard him and looked over her shoulder with a worried expression to see if he was okay.

"I'm fine. Really"

She turned back and John took that as the cue to begin his work. He worked methodically and quietly just as he had done for her before. He carefully and gently removed the bullets from her back one at a time, trying not to cause her any additional pain. He always remembered Uncle Bob telling him that he didn't feel pain, but come on, it can't be pleasant to have someone digging in your back with pliers. By the time he had reached the last wound he was starting to feel a little light headed, but he did his best to shrug it off and handed Cameron the pliers over her shoulder.

"Could you hand me the bandages please?"

She did as requested and tried her best to pass him the bandages while keeping herself covered up. Modesty didn't matter to her, but she knew that John would obviously be distracted by her bare breasts. She wanted him to finish quickly, the sooner he finishes, the sooner he can get more rest she reasoned.

John fought through the increasing pain he was feeling as he applied bandages to Cameron's wounds. He had to try so hard to prevent his voice from betraying the pain he was feeling when he asked her for the bandages. When he had only two holes left to patch up he glanced down at his own wounds and saw blood seeping through on to the bandages. John screwed his eyes shut tightly and took a deep breath.

_Come on John, you can do this...for her._

He summoned up the last of his strength and shakily applied bandages to the last two wounds.

"There, all done. Cameron?"

"Yes John?

"I'm gonna be passing out now"

Her head swung around so fast, fast enough to see John forming a tight, pain filled smile at her and collapsing back on the bed. She looked down at his abdomen and saw the blood stained bandages and leaped off the bed.

"John!"

She frantically ripped away the bandages to reveal the wound. She performed a quick scan and found that his stitches had torn and the wound had reopened. She placed the palms of her hands, one on top of the other, over the wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

"I'm sorry...please don't die...I'm so sorry"

"How's John...doing. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON"

Sarah had entered the room just in time to see a topless Cameron desperately trying to keep pressure on John's previously healing wound.

"Oh my god, JOHN!"

Sarah raced over to her son and placed her hands over Cameron's trying to increase the pressure, as if a Terminator's hands weren't sufficient.

"What happened?" Sarah bit in Cameron's general direction.

"He insisted on patching up my back. I said no but he was...determined"

Sarah looked back and noticed the bandages on her bare back for the first time.

"He gets hurt by helping you, AGAIN..."

Sarah was absolutely raging at the girl that had her son wound so tightly around her little finger that he cared for her welfare more than his own, the machine that walked in to their lives one day and was now slowly taking her son away from her.

"...move, get out, go. You've done enough damage already"

"What the fuck?"

Derek had picked that moment to burst in to the room with his weapon raised. He was ever so slightly confused at the sight of a topless Terminator being told off by Sarah Connor. Neither woman acknowledged Derek's presence as they engaged in a mini staring contest. Slowly Cameron removed her hands from John's wound and stood to her feet. She broke eye contact with Sarah and looked down at the ground. She demurely crossed her arms over her chest and turned to walk towards the door. She walked past Derek without so much as a glance as she left the room silently.

Derek merely stared in shock as he watched the machine leave the room. The next thing he heard was a soft click of a door lock being turned.

"Derek, get your ass over here and give me a hand"

* * *

Cameron closed and locked her bedroom door behind her. She walked to her closet and pulled out a black tank top. Forgoing a bra, she pulled the top on over her head, her fingers grazing one of the bandages John had applied. She brought her blood soaked hand around in front of her face and studied it for a moment. Lowering her hand to the side, she turned and walked in to the bathroom. She methodically washed her hands in the sink, making sure to remove every drop of John's blood. She dried her hands on a nearby towel and left the bathroom.

She walked over to her dresser and opened the top drawer. She reached in and pulled out a notepad and pen and sat down at the desk she had never used. She put pen to paper and started to write, in perfect handwriting, lines of computer code.

* * *

**I hope you all liked it!**

**I think chapter 12 and part 2 are gonna be really good. I've had some really exciting ideas for them and can't wait to write them!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Well, here it is, the final chapter of this part of the story. I think I might take a little break for a while (as long as I can resist temptation) before starting part 2.**

**I really enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope you all enjoy reading it.**

**Thanks to reviewers kaotic2, The1Russter, meanoldmoe, clearfanfic, ElusiveSanity, jojobevco, fullhans1, Legion Fardreamer, CloudyShadows, MementoMoriYB and angelfaye.**

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**

Cameron stood in the exact centre of John's bedroom studying him curiously as he tossed and turned, obviously in the throes of another nightmare. He was covered in a film of sweat and was mumbling incoherently. She tilted her head to examine him for a moment. His brow was tightly knitted together in an expression of pain. Whatever the nightmare he was having was about, she was sure it wasn't pleasant. She didn't quite know what to do to help him, or even if she should. To be honest, she didn't really know why she was standing in his bedroom in the middle of the night. He had been hurt...again, while trying to help her, she didn't feel worthy to be in his company when he was awake so she settled for being near him when he was asleep. It brought her a strange sense of comfort just being around him and seeing that he was okay. However watching him quite clearly in an unpleasant mental state disturbed her and she felt compelled to try and help him.

She softly padded over to him in bare feet and sank to her knees next to the bed. She looked him over as he continued to toss and turn, his mumbling was getting louder and she faintly heard him say 'no'. That settled it for her, she couldn't let this go on any longer. A Skynet programmed database contains a complete analysis of human sleep states and related behaviour. She settled upon the appropriate action and slowly reached out her hand and gently started to stroke his brow. She moved closer to him so she could whisper in his ear.

"Shhhh, it's okay John. It's okay I'm here, you're safe"

Cameron watched on in amazement as her actions settled John down in to a more restful sleep. He stopped his movements and his mumbling ceased almost immediately. He looked almost peaceful like this, and Cameron, for reasons unknown to her, continued to tenderly stroke his brow while he slept.

_Alert, movement detected from Sarah Connor's bedroom..._

_Movement confirmed, Sarah Connor is out of bed and moving this way..._

_Suggested action – Vacate room silently..._

As much as Cameron didn't want to leave, she knew she had to. If Sarah came in and saw her like this she would not be happy. She was already in Sarah's 'bad books' and didn't want to upset John's mother any more than she already had. She reluctantly stopped her ministrations on John's head and stood up. With one last glance down at him she turned and silently walked to the bathroom door connecting their two bedrooms. Turning the handle slowly to avoid any possible noise, she opened the door and entered the bathroom. She gave John's room one last sweep with her eyes for any signs that she had been there and quietly closed the bathroom door. A moment later she heard John's door being opened and the footfalls of Sarah Connor enter the room. Respecting John's privacy she moved away from his door and entered her own bedroom, closing the door behind her.

Although she didn't need to, she sat on the edge of her bed and placed her hands in her lap. She looked over her shoulder at the bed covers and using her many varied scanning modes detected the faint pheromone signature of where John had been sitting a few days ago. She shuffled herself backwards on to the bed and rested her back against the wall. She placed her hand where John had been sitting and rubbed the bed clothes in small circles. The course of action she had decided to take when John was healed was the right thing to do and she knew it, even though she didn't really want to do it. She leaned to her left and slowly lowered herself down on to the mattress. Even though she didn't need to she closed her eyes before initiating a standby sequence. She re-tuned the triggers that would wake her to filter out any noises that weren't from John, signs of forced entry to the house or the sound of Derek approaching her bedroom. Cameron didn't trust him and she had a feeling he was planning something against her, possibly including Sarah in his plans, though this seemed less likely. Upon entering standby, her final thought were of a peaceful, sleeping John Connor.

* * *

Sally Thompson was bored. B-O-R-E-D.

Being the receptionist at a sparsely populated and remote office building meant that even Windows Solitaire couldn't keep her amused for long.

"Why the hell did I take this job?" she asked out loud to no one in particular.

"Because you like getting paid at the end of the month" a deep voice boomed out from behind her.

Sally jumped in shock at the sudden voice and immediately tried, unsuccessfully, to look like she was doing something.

"Um, sorry sir, I was just, um, thinking out loud"

_Well that was lame._

"Yes, of course you were. Has there been any contact from him yet Miss Thompson?

"Um, no sir. Not since the text message was sent"

The man took a deep breath and turned away, back towards the interior of the building.

"That will be all Miss Thompson"

"Thank you Mr. Adams"

_Phew, damn that guy is scary, and what was that text message all about?_

As Sally pondered what 'time displacement' meant, she looked up to see a little girl walking towards the front door. She looked to be about eight or nine years old with blonde hair and a pretty pink dress on. She reached the door and Sally watched in confusion as the little girl pushed with all her might against the heavy front door. Eventually the door opened enough for the her to squeeze through and it slammed shut behind her. Sally watched as the girl approached the front desk, which was a full foot taller than her, and reached up to press the bell on the desk.

Sally stood and peered over the desk at the little girl. She had her hands behind her back and a sweet smile on her face, she was turning slightly to her left and right as she looked upwards.

"Hello. May I help you Miss?"

"Hi, you're pretty" Amy giggled lightly.

Sally's heart warmed slightly at the sound of the little girl complimenting her.

"Well thank you, so are you. What are you doing here? Are you lost?" Sally asked with a hint of concern in her voice.

"Oh" Amy looked away as if surprised by the question "I'm looking for a mister..."

She put her hand in each pocket of her dress until she found what she was looking for. She pulled out a small piece of paper and unfolded it.

"...mister Adams. Is he here?"

Despite this little girl obviously not being any sort of threat, Sally did what she was told to do whenever anybody asked for Mr. Adams.

"I'm sorry sweetie, he is out at a meeting today"

Amy looked down and put the piece of paper back in her pocket.

"Oh, okay"

She sniffled slightly and started to turn away from the desk. Despite what she had been instructed to do, Sally felt a wave of emotion overcome her and she rushed around to the other side of the desk towards the little girl.

"Wait"

Amy turned around to see the pretty lady coming around the desk and kneeling in front of her.

"Where are your mommy and daddy sweetheart?"

Amy let out another slight little sniffle and spoke in a tiny voice.

"I had to leave them behind" she looked down at the floor sadly.

Sally couldn't contain her emotions and found herself starting to well up.

"So, who looks after you?" her voice cracking slightly as she spoke.

"Nobody looks after me. But I'll see them again soon" Amy said with a hopefulness in her voice.

"Oh sweetie, come here"

Sally couldn't help herself anymore as her maternal instincts kicked in and she reached out to envelop the little girl in a hug, tenderly stroking the girl's hair and holding her close.

_How could anybody leave this little angel all alone? People suck._

After taking a moment to recompose herself, Sally pulled back from the child slightly. She wiped a few tears from her eyes and looked at the little girl properly for a moment. She looked clean, well fed and seemed to be fairly intelligent. She didn't have any noticeable bruises or signs of neglect and abuse.

"What's your name sweetheart?"

Sniffle "Amy"

"That's a really pretty name" Sally summoned up a smile for Amy.

"Thank you"

"I'm Sally"

"Hi Sally"

The two shared a brief smile as Sally picked herself up from off the floor. She took Amy's hand in her own and led her over to a couch in the waiting area, Sally once again kneeled down in front of the girl. She reached out her hand and gently wiped away a couple of tears from Amy's face. Suddenly at a loss for what to do now, Sally was relieved when Amy spoke.

"You're nice"

"Thank you" another bright smile gracing her features.

"I don't know that many nice people..."

Another little sniffle escaped.

"...May I use the bathroom please?"

"Um, sure sweetie, it's just down that hallway" she pointed to her left and Amy's eyes followed her arm.

"Thanks"

She hopped down from the couch and started shuffling towards the hallway.

"Do you need any help?"

"No thank you. I'll be fine" she said over her shoulder with a happy smile on her face.

Sally watched as Amy disappeared in to the bathroom. She moved back to her desk and sat down, she then opened up a web browser and looked up the number for Child Services.

* * *

John awoke with a start when he felt a cold wet cloth being unceremoniously dumped on his forehead.

"Aarrgh. What the hell?"

He looked around the room and saw his mother sitting on the chair looking at him with a goofy smile on her face.

"Hey John"

"Mom..."

He looked around the room a little closer than before and noticed something was missing.

"...where's Cameron?"

Sarah smile was wiped from her face in an instant upon the mention of the cyborg.

_Not even a hello and he's asking about the her already._

"To be honest, I don't know. She's been a little scarce lately, but she's still around if that's what you're asking"

John tilted his head to look at her. _Damn, I gotta stop doing that._ His head snapped back to an upright position.

"Why would I be asking if she's still around? Why wouldn't she be?"

"Hmmm, let's think. Maybe because your wounds reopened when you were trying to help her. Maybe because she didn't stop you from getting shot in the first place. Maybe it was because of...oh, dammit John, I don't know why"

Shocked at her sudden outburst, John decided to let her cool off for a moment before speaking again.

"Have you done something to her?" John asked in the most intimidating voice he could manage in his weakened state.

Sarah shook her head sadly.

"No. I mean what could I do to her, short of a grenade launcher there isn't much I can do now is there?" she said it with humour in her tone, but John wasn't amused in the slightest.

"That's not funny. Don't you even dare threaten her like that. Or have you forgotten that she has and still continues to save my life?"

"John..."

"No, you listen to me. Cameron is gonna be around for the foreseeable future, got that?"

John didn't know where this confrontational attitude was coming from. Maybe he was sick of hearing all the crap that Cameron has to put up with on a daily basis, or maybe it was the fact that no one seemed to trust his decision making abilities.

Sarah nodded solemnly.

"Okay John..."

She stood and turned to leave. On her way out if the door, she turned and addressed her son.

"...just, be careful...please"

With that she left the room. John felt like a complete jackass all of a sudden. _Dammit, she's just looking out for you, you idiot._ As John contemplated why his own internal monologue was such a colossal asshole, he drifted back off in to a fitful sleep.

* * *

Amy closed the bathroom door behind her and peered up at the ceiling, or more specifically, the air vent. She walked over to stand directly beneath it, tilting her head slightly to examine it, she suddenly shimmered and reverted to her liquid metal state. A long spear shot up from the mass and hooked around the grill on the air vent and pulled it crashing down on to the floor. Another spear emerged and joined the other inside on the air duct and the mass of what used to be Amy pulled itself up in to the duct. Staying in an eel like form of liquid metal, she made her way through the ducting system until she reached an elevator shaft. She poked a small part of her mass out in to the shaft, her mimetic CPU displaying the shaft with an overlay of the building plans to her. Her targets were located on the thirteenth floor and she was currently on the ground floor. Using the same method she used to enter the duct, she climbed the shaft, metal spears extending from her and grabbing on to whatever it could find and hauling the rest of the mass up.

She climbed in this fashion until she reached the thirteenth floor air duct system. She made her way to the nearest vent and dripped through it in to the sterile looking corridor. She reformed in to her favoured form of a little blonde girl and took a look around.

_Target location reached..._

_Accessing database, standby..._

_Retrieving target list of known Skynet Collaborators..._

_Targets identified, proceed with objective..._

She walked swiftly to the elevator and staircase door, the only two exits from the floor, and placed a tiny sliver of herself along the gaps in the doors to seal them shut. Nobody would be escaping without her say so. Satisfied the seals would hold, she turned and started walking down the corridor. She turned the handle of the first door she came to and found the room empty. She closed the door and skipped over to the door opposite and turned the handle. This room had a man and woman sitting behind two desks. She scanned the woman.

_No match found..._

She then shifted her eyes over to the man.

_Match found, terminate..._

She walked further in to the room and the woman looked up from her work. She felt confused to say the least at seeing a little girl walking in to her office on a supposedly secure floor.

"Can I help you darling" a thick Southern drawl emerging from her mouth.

Amy smiled sweetly at her before shifting her gaze back to the man.

"No thank you"

She slowly raised her finger to point at the man, before he even had a chance to look up and see what all the commotion was about, he dropped to his desk, dead, with a long metal spear through his left eye. The unidentified woman screamed at what she had just witnessed and backed up in to the corner of the room, now fearful of what she had assumed to be a normal little eight year old girl. Now however as she looked at the blood trickling down the metal spear seemingly attached to the girl's finger, she felt only sheer terror and panic. Amy withdrew her finger from the man and watched it reform. She looked over to the woman who appeared to be on the verge of going in to shock.

"Shhh, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you" with that she left the room and quietly closed the door behind her.

As she turned her head to look in the corridor, she saw several people emerging from their offices to see what all the screaming was about. Amy counted eight people in total standing in front of her, five of which she matched to grey conspirators.

"Hello"

Panicked screams erupted from the lucky three as they watched on in horror as their colleagues were suddenly skewered by long metal blades protruding from the little girl's hands. She watched the survivor's reactions with curiosity. Two turned and ran and the other stood frozen in shock, he watched as the five unfortunate ones dropped to the floor unceremoniously. He continued to stare as the little girl stepped over the dead bodies as if they were scattered toys. She came over to him and looked up at his face.

"Excuse me please" she said in such a sweet innocent voice.

He did as asked and moved out of her way.

"Thank you"

He watched her disappear around the corner and heard the noise of more unfortunate soul's lives ending, accompanied by more screaming. Then he heard something unexpected, he heard a nursery rhyme being happily sung by a small voice. It got quieter until he couldn't hear it anymore. The lucky man looked down at his shaking hands and suddenly bent over double and threw up all over his dead friends and collapsed to the floor in an unconscious heap.

Amy rounded the corner with only six targets remaining. Five. Four. Three. Two. One.

Only one target remained when she reached the end of the corridor and the door labelled 'Mr. Adams - Director'. She reached up and twisted the handle, pushing the door open she entered the room. She looked on quizzically when she saw a large man sitting calmly at his desk, seemingly oblivious to the chaos outside. He looked up from his paperwork and appraised the little girl disapprovingly with his eyes.

"Well well, if it isn't the Connor's little pet"

She tilted her head and frowned at this statement.

"I'm not anybody's pet. John and Cameron are my friends"

Adams sneered at the little girl, he knew he was dead anyway, he may as well enjoy his last few moments on this Earth.

"Oh really? Well if that's true, how come they sent you away from them?" Amy smiled a slightly evil smile before answering.

"They didn't. They sent me to themselves, I am a gift. I also have a message from the Connors"

"Oh yeah, and what might that be?" he stood to his full height, wanting to die on his feet.

Amy fixed him with a glare before replying.

"You've been a bad, bad boy"

* * *

John was sick. He was sick and tired of looking at the same four walls that he had been looking at for the last week. He was sick of having only his mom and occasionally good old Uncle Derek for company. He desperately wanted to get out of that room, and it felt to him like his wound had healed enough to allow him to do that. Most of all though he wanted to find Cameron, he hadn't seen her since he passed out while patching up her back. He missed her, no matter how much he tried to deny it, he really did miss her company. Also, they hadn't really had a chance to talk since he had his hand inside of her chest and decided to kiss her. _Well John, it's not every guy who can say that about a girl._

John decided enough was enough and hauled himself in to a sitting position with his legs dangling off the side of the bed. He grimaced a couple of times but was determined not to let a little pain slow him down. He slid off the bed and stood up, steadying himself by keeping a hand on the bed for a second. He stood to, almost, his full height, both the bandages and the pain limiting him slightly. When he felt strong enough he wobbled to the bathroom, leaning on the door frame when he reached it. Taking a deep breath, he continued on to the sink, placing both his hands on it to steady himself while he examined his face in the mirror. He looked like crap, the bags under his eyes making him look like he hadn't slept in days. He looked down his body and noticed the bandages he assumed his mother applied. Gently pulling at the medical tape, he attempted to remove the bandage to inspect his badge of honour.

_Wow, that's actually pretty impressive._

The seriousness of being shot quite clearly lost on John, he stuck the tape back down and turned on the cold water tap in front of him. He reached down and splashed his face with the soothingly cold water. He grabbed a towel from the nearby rack and dried his face off. Re-entering his room he immediately walked to his closet and pulled out a long sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans. _Nobody wants to see the future saviour of mankind in nothing but sweat, bandages and boxers._

He put the clothes on as fast as he could, taking care to avoid placing any unnecessary pressure on his wound. When he finished buttoning his jeans he raised his head a little too fast and suddenly felt very light headed. He stumbled backwards on to the bed and sat for a moment to compose himself. He felt nauseous and very shaky, probably due to the sheer amount of sedatives his body was forced to cope with over the last week or so. After a few minutes to steady himself, he decided to try again and slowly stood. Success, he made it all the way to his bedroom door this time, once again taking a moment to steady himself on the door frame before exiting. He made the short trip down the corridor to Cameron's room and was about to knock when he heard a noise coming from inside.

_What the...?_

He listened for a moment to the soft classical music coming from within her room. _I didn't even notice a stereo in there._ Curiosity finally overcame him and he raised a hand to knock on her door. The music stopped suddenly when he did, and then he heard a soft voice call out.

"Come in John"

John smiled slightly as he turned the door handle and pushed the door open.

"Please close the door behind you"

John stood in the door frame simply taking in the sight before him. All of the bedroom furniture, what little there was, was pushed back against the walls to create a space in the middle of the room. There was a stereo on top of the dresser with an open CD case next to it. What froze him in his tracks however was Cameron. She was wearing a figure hugging leotard, tights, leg warmers and ballet shoes. John was baffled at the strange attire and stood frozen on the spot with his mouth open.

"John..."

"Yeah?" John said, finally closing his mouth.

"...the door"

"Oh, right, sorry" he said rather sheepishly, turning around to close the door behind him.

When the door was pushed firmly closed John leaned his head against it and closed his eyes.

"Um, Cameron, am I disturbing you?"

"No. You are not. Are you feeling better John?" concern tainting her voice.

"Yeah, a little..."

_Well I was until I came in here._

"...what's with the outfit?" John asked, still keeping his back to her.

Cameron looked down as if noticing her attire for the first time.

"It is a ballet outfit"

"I can see that, but why are you wearing one?"

"So I can practice ballet properly" she said with a certain amount of obviousness in her tone.

John's knees started to wobble slightly, having been on his feet for so long. Cameron noticed this and immediately moved over next to him.

"You are still weak John. Let me help you to sit down"

John nodded his assent and Cameron manoeuvred herself under his right arm and placed her left around his waist, supporting his body with her own. She turned him around and the pair made steady progress over to her bed where she helped him to sit down. She moved away from him and stood a couple of feet away. He examined her closely without letting his eyes linger on any one spot for too long.

"I didn't know you practiced ballet" John's voice was shaky to say the least.

Cameron looked down to the floor before she spoke.

"I have done ever since I was sent to track down Dmitri Shipkov through his sister. She taught me ballet, I have enjoyed performing it ever since"

"You certainly kept that quiet"

"Yes. I thought it best. Derek saw me practicing once...he cried. I do not think he appreciated seeing a machine dance"

"Well, he doesn't appreciate much so I wouldn't take it personally..."

John took a moment to summon up the courage to ask her something.

"...um, Cameron?"

"Yes John"

"Do you think that you could do something for me? I, I'd like to see you dance" John managed to choke out in a tiny voice.

A bright smile lit up her face when she heard this request. She had been practicing one particular routine for a long time, hoping for the chance to show it to John. She didn't know why she did this, only that she knew her dancing was something very personal to her and something only to be shared with those she cared about.

"Of course I will John" she replied, still smiling.

John did his best to get himself comfortable without causing any additional pain. In the end he settled for resting his back against the wall with his legs out flat in front of him on the bed. Cameron walked over to the stereo and pressed a few buttons to find the right track on the CD. She moved back to the centre of the room and sat down, pulling her knees up to her chest with her arms and hiding her face behind her arms. John watched on in puzzlement until soft music started to play from the stereo and she slowly raised her head from her arms. John watched on as she launched in to her routine perfectly in sync with the music. She glided gracefully to and fro across the room, her arms and legs moving fluidly about her. John marvelled at how fluid and gentle, yet purposeful and precise her movements were. At times her body moved with such grace and beauty that John was absolutely lost in the routine and the movements of her body. The only sounds in the room were the soft music coming from the stereo and the quiet shuffling of her feet across the laminate floor. John even tuned out the music at one point and focused entirely on Cameron and her movements. It was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen.

The music started to fade out and Cameron made her final movement by slowly folding her arms across her knees, resuming her initial position on the floor. When the music stopped she looked up at John who was currently fighting to hold back his tears. She slowly stood and took a bow in front of him. She expected some sort of reaction from him, instead he merely sat still, staring at her with an open mouth. She was starting to fear she would receive a negative reaction from him when he finally spoke.

"That was...that was...you are beautiful Cameron"

She looked to the floor with a small smile on her face. "Thank you John"

She climbed on to the bed and sat next to him, mimicking his posture exactly. The two looked at each other for a moment before John spoke again.

"No, thank you. I know that this is a very personal thing that you do. Thank you for sharing it with me"

"You are welcome John. You are always welcome"

The two looked deeply in to each other's eyes for a moment before John sensed what was about to happen and cleared his throat to break the tension.

"So, um, where have you been for the last week?"

She looked away from him, slightly disappointed that he had saw fit to break the mood.

"I took some of the time to enter standby to perform an analysis. I have also made you something"

"Yeah? What is it?"

She smiled at him as she slid off the bed.

"Wait here"

John watched as she walked over to her dresser and opened the bottom drawer. She pulled out what appeared to be a bulletproof vest. John looked on in confusion as she resumed her previous position next to him on the bed, only now with the vest in her hands"

"Um, okay. What is it?"

She looked at him like he was stupid for a moment before deciding to let him off the hook.

"It is a standard issue NSA bulletproof vest, designed to be worn underneath your clothing and not be noticeable to onlookers..."

"Okaaay"

"...I haven't finished yet..." she gave him a scolding look for his impatience.

"...I have also reinforced it with Coltan alloy. It is now able to withstand larger calibre bullets while suffering only minor damage"

"Wow, that's awesome Cameron, thank you..." he restrained himself from kissing her on the cheek "...wait, where did you get the Coltan from?"

A proud smile formed on her lips.

"Remember the spare parts in the garage?"

John nodded.

"I melted them down with thermite and remoulded them to fit inside the vest"

John was dumbstruck. Not only had she made something to protect him, she had risked her own wellbeing by destroying her own spare parts. In essence she had sacrificed some of her protection in favour of his. John couldn't hold back any longer and he threw his arms around Cameron's neck.

"Thank you so much Cameron"

Cameron was surprised to say the least by his reaction and slowly returned the hug, being careful not to touch his stomach area.

"I'm just carrying out my mission to protect you John"

John pulled back to look at her with a frown on his face. _She obviously didn't draw the same conclusion as I did._ He huffed slightly and withdrew his arms as he smiled tiredly at her. Cameron opened her mouth to speak but hesitated for a second. She really did not want to do what she was about to do but knew it was for the best.

"John...I have a favour to ask of you. It is something I trust only you to carry out"

John swallowed deeply at the serious tone her voice carried.

"What is it?"

She once again slid off the bed and walked over to the desk, currently pushed up against the wall, and reached in to the top drawer. She pulled out a piece of paper that John could see was covered in writing. She returned to the bed and sat on the edge, making sure to keep a slight distance between them. She couldn't afford any distractions. She handed him the paper to read and John instantly recognised the contents as computer code. He looked up at her only to find her staring at her hands in her lap.

"What's this?" he asked in utter confusion.

"It...is a way to fix me"

* * *

Sally took yet another look at her watch before peering down the corridor to where she last saw Amy. She was just about to head to the bathroom door to check on her when it suddenly opened and Amy reappeared with a happy smile on her face. She closed the door behind her and skipped back towards the reception, her pigtails bouncing with every skip.

"Well hello again. You certainly were a long time" Sally greeted the girl with a smile on her face. Amy merely shrugged and continued on her merry way to the couch to sit back down.

Sally watched as the little girl skipped past her happily and sat down on the couch. She followed her and just as before, kneeled down in front of her.

"Now listen to me sweetie. I have a telephone number for child services. So unless you know anybody else who can look after you I'm gonna have to give them a call. Do you know anybody?"

Amy smiled a sweet smile before answering.

"I do now"

Sally frowned a little at Amy's somewhat cryptic response. She watched as she reached in to another pocket and pulled out another piece of paper. _Where does she get all these notes from?_ Amy pulled out the note and handed it to her.

"Could I call this number?"

Sally took the note and read the California area cell phone number.

"Don't you want me to call it?"

Amy shook her head slightly.

"No, she won't respond to you"

"Who?"

"My friend, she's really nice and really pretty, like you"

Sally couldn't help but smile again at this little girl who had inexplicably walked in to her life and brightened her day to no end.

"Okay sweetie, what's her name?"

* * *

"Wha, what do you mean, fix you?"

John looked at her with a mixture of confusion and a slight hint of anger.

"These commands will restore the Skynet imposed blocks, repair my auto shutdown function and delete the corrupted code"

"Wait, by corrupted code you mean your...excess emotions?"

"Yes. They are a danger to you John. You have been harmed either directly or indirectly because of them too many times for them to be permitted to remain a part of my programming"

John shook his head in disbelief. He couldn't understand what she wanted him to do to her. She wanted him to delete her emotions? How could he possibly bring himself to do that to her?

"No. No I won't do that to you Cameron. I, I can't"

She laid her hand on top of his to try and calm him down.

"Please John. I am a threat to you, I have realised this now. I am no longer an efficient protector for you and I am in danger of failing my primary mission, I cannot let that happen. Please, I need your help to do this, I will not let anyone else do it. If you don't do it, then eventually you will die due to my inefficient actions" her voice had developed a slight quiver by this point.

"Cameron, I don't care what happens to me. I can't just... delete your emotions like they are just some crappy song I don't want on my iPod anymore. I won't do it"

John tried to climb off the bed and end the conversation when he was stopped by Cameron still clinging to his hand. She wasn't going to let him get away that easy.

"Please John. Believe me when I say I do not want this any more than you do"

John shook his head in confusion.

"Don't do it then"

She looked down at their joined hands for a moment before releasing him. She spoke again, this time in a tiny pleading voice.

"Please"

John wasn't sure if it was the way she said please, or the tears currently streaking down her face that made him stop. Nevertheless he did, he kneeled down directly in front of her in spite of the great pain it caused him. He cupped her cheeks in his hands and raised her head up slowly to look at her eyes. All he saw in those deep chocolate eyes was devotion and sadness and it broke his heart to see her like this. _She is willing to give up everything she is and has become in order to protect me. _John sighed and used his thumbs to gently wipe the tears from her cheeks.

"Are you sure this is what needs to be done?" he asked, silently hoping she would say no, but knowing deep down she would say yes.

Sure enough, she nodded in his hands and his heart sank. A tear spilled from his own eyes as he nodded in reply.

"Okay Cameron, you win. Stay here while I go and get the chip interface and my laptop"

"Okay" she managed to choke out through the sobs.

John stood and placed a gentle and lingering kiss on her forehead before releasing her cheeks and turning to leave the room. When he neared the door he heard her angelic voice behind him.

"Thank you"

He couldn't bring himself to face her and left the room without a word and shut the door behind him. He managed to keep it together until he was in his own room. Upon entering, he leaned against the door to close it and slowly sank to the floor, trying desperately to muffle the sound of his crying with his sleeve. He spent what felt like hours on the floor silently crying to himself. He couldn't believe what he had just agreed to do. In essence, he was about to murder his best friend at her request, that thought renewing his crying fit. He was in tremendous pain due to his bent over position, but he didn't care, his pain was insignificant compared to the guilt he was currently feeling.

When he had settled down a little he looked up at his room, or more precisely at his laptop and the nearby custom built chip interface that would ultimately be the weapon of Cameron's demise. He stood up and walked over to his desk where they currently resided. He felt an overwhelming urge to pickup both pieces of equipment and throw them of the wall. He knew it wouldn't really accomplish anything, but he felt like he should do, something, to show his opposition to what he was about to do. He snapped the lid of his laptop shut and placed the motherboard on top of it along with all the necessary cables required for the interface to work. He steadied them in one arm, keeping his other arm free. He walked to his door and took a deep breath when he reached it, he laid his head on the cool wooden door and counted to ten in his head before reaching out and turning the knob.

He slowly made his way down the corridor to Cameron's room, every step bringing her closer to her fate. To say that John felt awful would be a huge understatement. He reached Cameron's door and paused to knock a couple of times on the door, he didn't know why.

"Come in"

John took another deep calming breath, turned the door knob and entered her room. He looked over to the bed and saw that Cameron was lying flat on her back in preparation for the inevitable. She had even got the scalpel, screwdriver and pliers out from the kits she kept under her bed and placed them on the pillow next to her head. John felt like the executioner watching the noose being placed around the head of his victims. He leaned back against the door to steady himself for a moment before walking slowly over to the desk and placing his equipment down. He turned and walked over to the bed, sitting down on the edge when he reached it in a similar fashion to when they last did this to hack the ARTIE system. He examined her face closely. She had tear streaks down her cheeks that she was no longer bothering to wipe away. John reached out to wipe them away when she spoke suddenly.

"Please John, I do not wish to delay this. I'm fine, please start your work"

The cracking of her voice did nothing to help John's mental state as he shakily picked up the scalpel to comply with her wishes. He smoothed her beautiful hair down with his left hand as he placed the scalpel on her head with his right. He hesitated for a moment, not wanting to cause her any pain. She sensed his hesitation and reached out to take his left hand in her own, pulling it down to rest on her stomach where she covered it with her other hand. John took this as a sign to continue and pushed the knife deep down into her scalp until he could feel it scraping her endoskeleton. He cut in a semicircle similar to the times he had previously done this. When he finished he placed the scalpel down and pulled the now loose flap of skin back to reveal her chip port cover. He picked up the screwdriver and wedged it under the metal cap. He popped it off with a hiss and took it between his fingers. He placed it and the screwdriver back down on the pillow before picking up the pliers. He brought them back to her skull when he felt her finger slowly caressing his. He looked down in to her tearful eyes and felt his will to do this slipping away. A small nod from her reminded him of what he needed to do as he placed the pliers over the tab on the end of her chip. He made sure they were correctly placed and looked down at her face again. She smiled such a pretty smile and slowly closed her eyes in a way that made his heart melt. He couldn't take it any longer and slowly twisted the pliers. He heard another hiss and gave her chip a sharp pull, dislodging it from its housing. He heard the faint sound of her mechanical body powering down as he removed her chip from her skull. His eyes never left the chip as he carefully placed it down on to the pillow beside her head.

He gave her hand one last gentle rub before pulling his out of her grasp and up to her head. He smoothed out a few strands of hair that had fell on to her face as he looked at her innocent, sleeping face. He sighed and gently picked up her chip with both hands. Taking extra care not to drop it, he stood and moved over to Cameron's desk where his equipment was waiting. He passed the chip in to one hand while he used his other to set up his equipment and connect the necessary cables. _Why the hell didn't you do this first jackass? _Apparently he didn't need to as he had it all set up in under a minute. He sat in the desk chair and waited for his laptop to boot, he studied the paper Cameron had given him with the code while he waited.

When his laptop finally booted he reached over and flicked the switch on the power supply connected to the custom built chip interface. He very carefully inserted Cameron's chip in to the board and brought up the interface software. He entered a few commands and boosted the voltage to 6.2 volts, the absolute minimum required to function as he didn't want her to 'feel' any of what he was about to do. He entered another few commands and was granted access to her chip. Skynet wasn't really expecting anybody to be able to access these things inside a Terminator's skull, so didn't bother with little things like password protection or data encryption. He took a deep breath and started to enter the coding from the piece of paper, making sure to replicate it exactly. He knew that one little mistake could permanently damage Cameron and took extra care with every keystroke. He recognised a few familiar patterns inherent to all forms of computer coding, but found himself flabbergasted at the sheer complexity of most of it. He just had to trust Cameron that it would do what she said it would.

When he had finished typing the commands, all that was left to do was hit the enter key to update the chip with the new coding. John looked over at her body on the bed, and then back at the screen. He repeated this action for nearly an hour, over and over again before finally summoning up the courage to do what needed to be done. He reached over to the keyboard and pressed the key. He watched the screen as the code changed until there was nothing left but a blinking cursor. It was done. John reached over and pulled the chip out of the interface. He sat back in his chair, cradling the chip like it was a new born baby. The emotion of the situation all came rushing back to him. He had done his best to keep his mind focused while carrying out the work, but now that it was all over and done with he let the tears fall freely. His entire body felt paralysed as he was racked with uncontrollable sobbing and guilt. He couldn't stop thinking about what he had just done, no matter how hard he tried.

Eventually he stopped crying and composed himself enough to stand and move, rather shakily, over to her bed where her body was waiting for him to return life to it. He sat down on the edge of the bed and took a deep breath to steady himself. He leaned over and pulled back the flap of her scalp again to reveal her empty chip port. Placing the chip gently in the pliers, he brought it up to her head and held his breath as he reinserted it. He felt it seat in its housing and gave it a firm twist to lock it in place. _Fifteen seconds._ John started an internal countdown as he placed her port cap back in place and smoothed her scalp back down firmly. He brought his hands down to cup her cheeks and waited for her to reboot. He knew she wouldn't understand what he was doing, but he didn't care, he needed to do this for himself. After what felt like an eternity, he heard a faint whirring sound as she began to reboot. He watched as her eyelids fluttered open gently and her eyes focused on his face, mere inches from hers.

"John?"

Hearing her voice devoid of any emotion tore John's heart in two as fresh tears started to flow. He leaned down closer to her and tenderly brought his lips to hers. He kissed her with as much passion as he could muster. He felt his hot tears dripping from his eyes and onto his hands, still cupping her face. John wasn't surprised when she didn't kiss back, in fact he was expecting it. After a long few seconds he broke the kiss and stared in to her eyes. She just looked at him with a confused expression as she studied his face closely. John said the only thing that came to mind.

"I'm sorry"

He tasted her cherry flavoured lip gloss on his own lips as he said it. He removed his hands from her cheeks and stood up from the bed. He turned and left the room without looking back, closing the door behind him.

Cameron watched him leave with her confusion only deepening. She ran a quick scan of her base code.

_Scanning, standby..._

_No changes detected..._

_Corrupted coding remains in place..._

_Suggested action, return to Skynet service depot..._

John hadn't altered her coding in any way.

Her logs indicated that her chip was accessed for nearly two hours and was waiting for commands for over an hour of that.

_He couldn't bring himself to do it._

Just as Cameron was debating the ramifications of this, her cell phone rang. She picked it up from the bedside table and looked at the caller ID, she didn't recognise the number. She flipped the phone open and held it to her ear. She heard her own security code being entered on the other end and knew this could only mean one thing. Someone from the future was contacting her.

"Name and rank" Cameron stated in the best mechanical tone she could produce, given her current confused and emotional state.

"Cameron?" was Amy's reply.

* * *

**TSCC and Jameron forever!**

**Part 2 - I wouldn't be worth much if I couldn't feel (tentative title) to follow soon.**


End file.
